


TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD

by sssssssim



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23247700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: After Palpatine is defeated, there come ups and downs. Poe takes his friends home and together, they handle the ups and downs of a life post-war.A plan for the future falls into their laps.Somehow, Rey falls in love with Poe. He has no idea how that happens, but he'll ask his dad about it, some day. Kes definitely knows it all.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 17
Kudos: 74





	TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD

**Author's Note:**

> This took me two months and a half to write. During this time, I had several 14h long work days, a death in the family, got a crush and got over it, and yeah there's an apocalypse happening, but at least we're finishing our WIPs.  
> So... This is a mess. A bigger mess than usual. Plot? I don't know her. Angst and ridiculousness go well together, of course. A Mess™. Enjoy.

⟩⟨

Life after the war was surprisingly difficult.

The initial happiness was amazing, like nothing Poe had ever felt before. The sheer amount of positive emotions he felt as he shared an incredible hug with Rey and Finn, it was overwhelming and he cried straight through it. He felt higher than that one time he accidentally made tea out of the spices he was supposed to run. 

But as high as he soared, as low he dropped.

The physical exhaustion that hit them all after the party died down, that was something Poe had never experienced before either.

He slept for 26 hours, waking up only three times to pee and drink a protein shake. After that, the medics on Coruscant pumped him up with stuff. He was severely malnourished, apparently, but at least he shared a room with Finn, who was no better.

The days spent in the hospital were fine. Rose and Rey kept them company, other Resistance friends visited, they kept themselves busy with gossip of the outside world and news of the post-war world, their strengths were steadily building up.

But when the night came, so did the nightmares. Being a fighter for so long, Poe was used to them. They had gotten worse after Ren played with his mind, and they had gotten even worse now. During the war, he pushed a lot of things down, ignored them in order to keep fighting. Now, they were all bursting out at the surface.

Poe and Finn woke up screaming several times a night. There was understanding, between them, and they did speak sometimes about what they saw, but mostly, they just took comfort from each other’s presence.

By the time they were discharged, Poe was mentally and physically exhausted.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Then came a month filled with briefings. Some days, he spent ten hours in a chair, talking non stop. Granted, he had a long story to tell, being there from almost the start of the war. 

And the Galactic Council was interested in everything,  _ e v e r y t h i n g _ .

Everyone else was subjected to the same treatment.

Sure, they were lodged in fancy apartments that got food delivered three times a day and had cleaning droids, but it was clear they were on trial.

They all were.

The Resistance won, but they were still being judged for everything they did in order to do so.

In one of the sleepless nights he had spent in the hospital, Poe thought extensively about what would happen after, so he was prepared for it. The others, they weren’t.

Rose was angry, furious that they were being questioned like criminals. Finn was starting to doubt himself, doubting that he did the right thing.

Rey was… hurting, every day. Because every day, she had to talk about Kylo Ren, and every day, she came out of the interrogation room crying.

Poe knew she was in pain. He saw it in her eyes, and he almost felt it, at times. He didn’t understand it, though.

He tried. For a long while, he tried to understand Rey. But it was a very difficult thing to do, considering he had no idea what really happened and she refused to talk about it.

He tried, but he couldn’t ignore the flash of pain that appeared in her eyes at the mere mention of Ren.

Sure, Poe and Rey fought a lot, but it wasn’t real. It was bantering and making fun, calling each other names and acting like children, but he never wanted to hurt her, didn’t want to ever cause her pain.

Poe would be fine if he never found out what that bastard did to her.

But he would much rather find out everything about Rey. Every little thing, from what were the last words Luke said to her, to how the skin on her neck tasted like.

… Poe was man enough to admit he was almost completely in love with Rey, but he only admitted it to himself.

⟩⟨

One day, someone barged into the interrogation room Poe was currently being kept in, explaining the same thing for the 20th time that month.

Wordlessly, he was taken to another room, where Rey and Finn were already waiting, alongside the top three members of the Council.

Poe’s eyes zeroed in on Rey, who was white as a sheet and trembling in her boots, staring down at her hands.

‘What’s happening?’, he glared at the Council.

‘She has requested your presence.’, councilwoman Da’mar said, as the other two men, Raaz and Krowl, rolled their eyes.

‘Rey?’, Poe asked as gently as possible.

She didn’t lift her eyes. ‘I have to tell them what happened… with Ben. I can’t do it alone. I need your strength.’

Poe instantly moved to her side. He sat down on the armrest of her chair, pressing their legs together. Finn planted himself on her other side, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

With a deep breath, Rey started talking. She cried and her voice trembled, but she told them everything.

Everything, since the moment Ren grabbed her on Takodana, till the moment he died in her arms on Exegol.

Everything, about having him inside her head, about the bond they shared through the Force. About the hut on Ahch-To and fighting side by side on the Supremacy.

Everything, a betrayal, a redemption. A death. A revival, a kiss and a death, in the Force.

By the end of it, Rey was sobbing, eyes closed shut and panting. Finn looked like he wanted to cry too and Poe? He desperately wanted to gather Rey in his arms and never let go.

In that moment, he understood something very important about Rey, but he also understood something about himself.

Because now, he understood Ben Solo perfectly. Dying for Rey was something he would gladly do too. And with that realisation came the knowledge that he was truly and irrevocably in love with her.

‘You were in love with Kylo Ren.’, Da’mar said, the words going like a punch through Poe’s heart.

‘No.’, Rey shook her head. ‘I was in love with Ben Solo. Maybe.’, she took a deep breath. ‘I’m not sure I know what love means.’

With great difficulty, Rey opened her eyes and looked to the Council.

‘At the end of it all, it was Ben Solo that gave his life to save mine. It was Ben Solo who fought side by side me to defeat Snoak and Palpatine. It was Ben Solo that I lost.’

‘There’s no way anybody in the Galaxy will ever believe that.’, Raaz said strongly.

‘It doesn’t matter.’, Rey frowned. ‘The only people that matter do believe it.’

Nobody said anything for a long time, as Rey tried to gather herself.

‘Leia was right.’, Poe’s mouth spoke before he could control it.

Rey’s eyes snapped to him, and he smiled. ‘She always believed her son could come back.’

‘They’re together now.’, Rey whispered. ‘They’re in the Force, with Luke and Obi-Wan and Anakin and-’

She didn’t go on, tears falling on her face again.

Abruptly, Finn moved. He walked away from Rey, turning his back to them all. ‘I can’t be here right now.’

There was anger in his voice, and while Poe didn’t agree with him, he understood Finn.

Rey whispered a soft ‘I’m sorry.’, but he wasn’t sure Finn heard it.

‘Wait!’, Raaz demanded.

That was the final straw, for Poe.

‘No.’, he said as strongly as he could. ‘We have been waiting for a month, we have been waiting for nothing. Enough is enough.’

He got up and glared at the council.

‘This is the end of it. The last piece of the story. You know everything now. Right, Rey?’

‘Right.’, she said meekly.

‘No more questions.’, he demanded. ‘No more interrogations, no more-’

‘One last question.’, Da’mar said. ‘What are you going to do now?’

They all startled at the question. He knew very well that neither of them had any plans, Rey and Finn had no place to call their own.

So he finally voiced a hope that had settled in his heart long before the end of the war.

‘I’m going to go home.’

‘To, uh’, Krowl touched his holopad, ‘Yavin 4?’

‘Yeah.’, Poe couldn’t help but smile. ‘I’m gonna hug my dad and eat his food and… And I’m going to mourn all the souls we’ve lost during this war.’

He looked to Finn’s back, but placed his hand on Rey’s shoulder.

‘And I’m taking my friends with me. If they want to join me.’

Finn turned around at that, looking at him with wide eyes. They skipped to Rey for a moment, before he looked back to Poe.

‘Yes.’, was all he said, but he didn’t need to say more. Poe knew it all.

He felt fingers around his wrist, tiny and calloused and warm.

‘Please.’, Rey whispered and with that single word, Poe felt ten times lighter.

He looked to the Council again. ‘You’re not charging us with anything and we’re going to Yavin 4.’

The three Council members shared some looks, but it was Da’mar that spoke.

‘You may go home, Dameron, and take your friends with you. But we will be in contact, shall we have further inquiries. I’ll arrange for transport.’

‘No.’, he said with authority. ‘We’re taking the Falcon.’

‘Absolutely not.’, Raaz all but yelled.

‘Absolutely yes.’, Poe snorted. ‘Han gave the ship to Rey, end of story.’

‘You’re not in charge here, Commander.’, Krowl said very slowly.

Poe couldn’t help but smirk. ‘It’s General, not Commander. And you’re right. I’m not in charge of anything right now. There’s no need to lead the Resistance anymore. So’, his smirk widened, ‘I have no issues with stealing the Falcon.’

While the men looked affronted, Da’mar actually snorted.

‘Go, Dameron, for kriff’s sake. But keep your comms on. Just in case.’

‘Thank you, ma’am.’, he smiled, genuinely, at her.

‘And Rey?’, the woman made her look up. ‘Don’t ever apologize for who you fall in love with. Most of the time, you don’t get to choose.’

The words hit Rey hard, she started crying again, and they hit Finn too, because some of the anger he felt visibly lifted from his shoulders.

They were right, though. Ren stood no chance, just as Poe didn’t. They really had no choice but to fall in love with Rey.

⟩⟨

They left the next morning, after a few difficult goodbyes. Poe told everyone where they were going, all the Resistance members that fought side by side with him.

It was hard to leave them behind, but Poe needed to get home. He needed it desperately, and so did his friends.

His friends, who were currently not speaking to each other. Rey was in the cockpit, asking BB-8 random information about Yavin-4, and Finn was in the common area, angrily seething.

Poe wanted to go speak to him, convince him he was an idiot, but he also wanted to comfort Rey. He didn’t know what was more pressing.

‘Go.’, she whispered to him. ‘He needs you now more than I do.’

He still hesitated.

_ I’ll stay with you! _ , BB-8 happily beeped, making a small smile appear on Rey’s lips.

It was that, that made Poe go to Finn’s side.

The other man sighed deeply. ‘Out with it. Let’s get this over with.’

‘I’m not here to tell you how to feel.’, Poe started, rather awkwardly.

‘But?’

‘I don’t think you can blame her.’

Finn took a shaky breath. ‘But I still do.’

‘Look, I-’, Poe tried to choose his words wisely. ‘I know you never told me, and I know you never told her, but I know what you think you feel for Rey.’

The other man frowned at that. ‘ _ Think  _ I feel? What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

‘I’m going to hurt you if I say it out loud.’, Poe winced badly.

‘But I need to hear it?’

Poe nodded.

‘Then out with it.’, Finn sighed, relaxing a little.

‘Rey said that  _ maybe _ she loved Solo.’, Poe started. ‘That she didn’t really know what love was. I don’t think you do either.’

Finn just stared at him. Not angry, but not understanding either.

‘The lives that the two of you had, they’re horrible, Finn. They’re… they’re grotesque.’, it was difficult for Poe to push the words out, but he needed to do it.

‘Before you ran, you had nobody to care for you. You had no idea what love means, family and kindness. You’re learning, yeah, but it’s not, it’s not something you can learn on the go, in the middle of a war.’

‘But I-’

‘Finn’, he said somewhat desperately, ‘it might be love. But it also might be infatuation, respect, just attraction or just pure friendship. You can’t tell the difference, not yet.’

After Poe was done, Finn was quiet for a long while. But after a few minutes, Finn regarded him with a new sort of look, understanding and surprised.

‘And what is it for you? What is it that you feel for Rey?’

Poe’s first instinct was to deny everything. But one look at Finn, at the understanding in his eyes, that’s all it took.

Meeting Finn’s eyes, Poe smiled. ‘I, unlike you, know exactly what love is. And I know how much it hurts.’

‘Okay.’, Finn sighed after a moment. ‘What do I do now?’

Poe shrugged. ‘You don’t blame her. If she did love Solo, then you accept that it was her choice. And if she doesn’t love you back, you don’t blame her for that, either.’

‘It’s not so easy.’, Finn pointed out.

He snorted. ‘Trust me, buddy, I know.’

Finn had the strength to chuckle at that, and Poe knocked their shoulders together.

‘Go talk to her.’, he said gently. ‘Whatever else, you’re still her best friend, and she’s still your second best friend. After me, of course.’

Finn nodded once and got up. Halfway through to the cockpit, he stopped and half turned to Poe.

‘We’re a kriffing mess.’

Poe laughed at that. ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way, buddy. I need a nap now, though.’

⟩⟨

He doesn’t know what Rey and Finn talked about, but when Poe woke up from his nap, the two of them were laughing in the cockpit. They also thanked him, completely in sync, which just made the whole thing incredibly embarrassing.

Thankfully, they were almost to Yavin-4.

‘Can I land it?’, Poe couldn’t keep the excitement in his voice, and Rey was quick to move to the co-pilot seat.

‘Does your dad know we’re coming?’, Finn asked.

‘I told him, yeah.’

‘Won’t he mind?’, Rey frowned.

‘No, he’s been alone for a long while. I haven’t been home in… more than three years.’

‘What’s his name?’, she smiled.

‘Kes. And I’m sorry in advance.’

⟩⟨

The Falcon got parked in the front garden, which was the place where they always kept the ships. When they got off it, Kes was waiting for them on the porch.

He looked older, a lot older than he should have. More grey hair, more wrinkles on his face, he moved slower. But his eyes were still sparkling and his grin was just as Poe remembered it.

‘Kriff, Dad, when did you get so old?’

‘About the time you grew up, kid.’, the older man rolled his eyes. 

But then he opened his arms and Poe wasted no time and no embarrassment. He ran into his father’s embrace and cried like a baby.

BB-8's soft beeps made him stop crying, and he pulled away from his father, who was quick to take the few steps needed to get to Finn’s side.

He hugged him, too, without a second thought. ‘Nice to finally meet you, Finn.’

‘You too, sir.’, Finn hugged back, just a little.

And then, Kes turned to Rey, who was awkwardly shuffling her feet.

‘Rey’, the old man smiled gently, ‘we’ve been waiting for you for a long time.’

As she frowned, so did Poe.

‘Dad, are you going senile?’

Kes laughed, snapping out of it. ‘Come on, kids. There’s hot water in the fresher, clean clothes and a lot of food.’

_ Charging station? _ , BB-8 asked.

‘Of course, kiddo. Grandpa Kes has everything you need.’

With a series of excited beeps, BB-8 made its way inside the house, and they all followed.

⟩⟨

Half an hour later, they all sat down at the kitchen table. Finn and Rey on one side, Poe and his dad on another. They were wearing clean clothes that Kes must have gone out and brought, because the short tunic Rey was wearing was not something of his mother’s. There was a lot of food on the table, home cooked that made Poe’s mouth water, and there was sparkly ale.

For the first five minutes as they ate, they were silent. But then, Kes reached over the table and gently grabbed Rey’s hand.

‘Sweetheart, nobody is ever going to take food from your mouth, ever again. And there’s plenty of it here. Slow down, maybe chew a little. Enjoy the food.’

Poe didn’t even notice it anymore, the way Rey would shove food in her mouth like it was the last meal she was ever going to get. But he had told Kes, a little about how she grew up.

‘I’m sorry.’, Rey was blushing furiously, clearly ashamed.

‘Don’t be.’, Kes chuckled. ‘Just trust me enough to put food on the table.’

‘I’m sorry.’, she said again.

‘Rey.’, the older man laughed. ‘I raised a boy who only learned manners when Leia was around. Trust me, you have nothing to be sorry for.’

It was easier after that. They chatted as they ate, and when the food was over, there were smiles on their faces.

Still, Poe had an issue.

‘Dad? Why did you say you’ve been waiting for Rey?’

‘I was going to ask that, too.’, she said gently. ‘We haven’t met before, have we?’

‘No, we haven’t.’, Kes straightened up. ‘Tell me, Rey, how do you feel here?’

She blinked, twice, her eyebrows scrunched up. ‘Better.’, she admitted. ‘But I don’t understand it.’

‘And tell, when were you born?’

‘I don’t know, exactly, but it was in 15 ABY.’

Kes smiled. ‘You were born on the 20th day of month 7.’

‘You’re definitely going senile.’, Poe frowned. ‘That’s my birthday.’

‘You two share it, 13 years apart.’

Clearly, nobody understood what the old man was on about.

‘You feel better here because of the Force Tree we have in the garden.’

Rey’s jaw dropped at that. ‘How did you... What?’

‘Tell her the story, Poe, will you?’

It was one of Poe’s favorite stories, about his mom. About how she helped Luke Skywalker find pieces of Force-sensitive trees, and how he gave one to her. Poe grew up climbing that tree, because it was the biggest one in their garden. Nobody ever told him not to, not even after he grew up and understood what it was.

After Poe was done with the story, Rey looked thoughtful. ‘Luke took the other piece on Ahch-To. He burned it, before he died. It’s not there anymore.’

She shook her head, before turning to Kes again. ‘That still doesn’t explain why you were waiting for me.’

‘After the war, we didn’t see each other that much. But every year, on Poe’s birthday, people would show up, even after his mother died.’

‘I kinda remember it.’, Poe admitted.

‘Do you remember your 13th birthday?’

He shrugged.

‘It was the first time Leia came without Han, and the first time, in awhile, when she came with Ben.’

‘I just remember him sitting by the tree and not playing with me.’

‘Right.’, Kes nodded. ‘The kid was angry that the tree wasn’t answering him.’

‘Answering?’, Rey frowned.

‘I don’t actually know how it works.’, Kes told her. ‘But Leia and Luke, they were regulars. Every now and then, they’d come here, spend some time under the tree and leave with less questions than they came with.’

Rey shook her head. ‘I don’t think the tree on Ahch-To worked like that.’

Kes hummed. ‘On Poe’s 13th birthday, Luke came, too. He took Ben away from the tree, and spent a lot of hours alone under it.’

He regarded Rey in a very soft manner, that Poe forgot his dad was capable of.

‘He talked to me afterwards. He wished Poe a happy birthday, thanked me for taking care of the tree, asked me to keep doing it. He said that someone was born, on that day. Someone important.’ 

Kes grabbed Rey’s hand. ‘That it will take a long time, but they will make their way to the tree, looking for answers.’

‘So Luke knew.’, Poe said gently.

‘Luke knew a lot of things.’, Rey’s voice shook. ‘He just wasn’t very good at knowing what they meant.’

‘And yet, you still took his name.’, Finn pointed out, but it was teasing.

Rey grinned at that.

‘Rey Skywalker.’, Kes said thoughtfully. ‘It has a nice ring to it.’

He kissed the back of her hand before letting go of it.

‘You don’t know the whole story.’, the smile fell off her face.

‘Poe’s gonna tell me tonight. It’s what we always do when he comes home.’

‘I’m not going to-’, Poe tried saying, but Rey cut him off.

‘You can tell him everything. As long as you don’t make me talk about it.’

Finn hugged her at that, pressing their sides together.

‘I need to go to the tree.’, Rey said with a bit more force.

‘Not today, sweetheart.’, Kes shook his head. ‘It’s going to take a lot of strength out of you. Sleep, first. We’ll take you tomorrow.’

‘There’s no rush.’, Poe added. ‘Not anymore.’

It took a few moments, but Rey agreed. And then she smiled at Kes.

‘Thank you, for letting us stay here.’

‘We don’t have anywhere else to go.’, Finn added.

There was sadness, in Kes’ eyes, but then he turned to look at his son, and he grinned wildly.

‘You two are Poe’s home away from home. You’re welcome here. Forever. And I am going to love getting to know you, Rey and Finn.’

Poe felt tears in his eyes, but he wasn’t the only one, and he didn’t try to hide it.

⟩⟨

After Rey and Finn were set up in separate guest rooms, Poe went to his room. It didn’t look like a teenage shrine to Rebellion fighters, not anymore. It was still filled with junk from his teenage years, before he left for the Academy, but it felt more like home than any other place in the Galaxy.

He sat down in the middle of the bed and he didn’t have to wait long. 

Kes came in, already in sleeping clothes, with two glasses and a bottle of what Poe knew will be very expensive alcohol.

First, they got comfortable on the bed. Then, they drank a glass.

And then Poe started talking. He told Kes everything, every single thing. The fighting, the scheming, the running for their lives. The hope, the desperation. He told Kes about Leia, about Rey and Finn, about Ben Solo and Rey Palpatine.

Poe told his father everything. Everything that happened, to him, to the Resistance, to Finn and Rey. He told Kes everything he felt, everything he thought.

And at the end of it, Poe was a sobbing mess and Kes was holding him tightly.

‘You did well, Poe. I’m so proud of you and you’re alive. I’m so happy you’re alive.’

He kept saying those words, over and over again. It took awhile for Poe to calm down, but he did manage it eventually.

‘So.’, Kes said after a while. ‘Both you and Finn are in love with Rey?’

‘Maybe. I mean, I know I am. Finn still needs to figure it out.’

‘And she loves Ben.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Kriff, kid.’, Kes chuckled. ‘Fighting a war and saving the Galaxy wasn’t enough? You just had to get yourself into this mess, too?’

‘I didn’t have a choice, Dad.’, Poe said in a gentle voice. ‘And it doesn’t matter, really.’

‘How does it not matter?’

‘I love Finn and Rey anyway. It doesn’t matter  _ how _ .’

Kes took a shaky breath. ‘I’m so happy you’re home. For a while there, I didn’t think you were gonna make it back.’

And just like that, Poe started crying, again.

‘Me neither, Dad. Me neither.’

⟩⟨

After Kes went to bed and Poe managed to calm down, he knew perfectly well that Rey wasn’t asleep. She was in some sort of distress, not horribly so, but Poe still felt it.

So he knocked on her door and gently called her name. The door opened immediately, even if Rey was still in bed.

‘That’s never not gonna be impressive.’

Rey tilted her head in acceptance, but didn’t say anything. She was sitting in the middle of the bed, legs crossed and back against the wall. She was also crying, but it was a soft sort of thing, just a few tears slowly falling down her cheeks.

‘Do you want me to go?’

‘I’m fine.’, Rey answered. ‘But, I think… Will you take me to the tree tomorrow? I think it needs to be you.’

Poe frowned. ‘Of course, but why?’

‘I have a feeling.’

He rolled his eyes at that. He wasn’t going to question it, though, but it did irk him every time Rey or Finn said something like that.

‘Will you go to sleep?’

She nodded. ‘Will you?’

Poe sighed, deeply. ‘How much of me and Dad did you feel?’

‘Why do you think I’m crying?’

He couldn’t step away at that. Poe immediately went to the bed, shamelessly kneeled on it and hugged Rey as tightly as he could. 

She grumbled about it, but let herself be pulled to his chest.

‘Poe, I’m fine.’

‘I’m not.’, he whispered. ‘Just let me have this, for a moment.’

It was probably too much to say out loud, but Rey didn’t pull away. She sighed, deeply, relaxed her shoulders and wrapped an arm around his waist, fisting her fingers in the back of his shirt.

He let go, eventually, but he couldn’t meet her eyes.

‘Go to sleep, Poe.’, she whispered. ‘It’s gonna be a new day tomorrow.’

‘A better day?’

‘We’ll make it better.’

He looked at her, then, at the small smile she threw him, at the tears still in the corners of her eyes.

‘Go to bed, Poe.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’, he saluted, making her snort. Out the door, he stopped and called for his droid.

BB-8 rolled happily inside of the room, not needing Poe to tell it to stick with Rey.

Rey, who giggled when BB-8 gently banged against the bed. 

Poe smiled as he made his way to his room. He still cried, before he fell asleep, but Poe still felt Rey’s warmth against his chest, and it gave him some comfort.

⟩⟨

In the morning, Rey was pretty desperate to go to the Force Tree, but she was second-guessing who was supposed to go with her. She chose Poe twice, Finn three times, and Kes about five.

It was the older man that took the decision out of her hands.

‘I’m too old to carry you back, and you’re going to need that when you’re done. Finn is new, he’ll distract the tree from you. It doesn’t even react to Poe anymore, so you should take him.’

‘How could you possibly know who the tree reacts to or not?’, Poe felt the need to ask.

‘Luke and Leia came round more often than you know, kid. Now’, he turned to Rey, ‘trust an old man and get going.’

It took another moment, but Rey nodded and followed Poe outside.

The house had a large back garden, filled with crops and flowers, so the trek to the tree took a couple of minutes. They didn’t talk, but Poe felt Rey’s apprehension and fear.

But once the tree came into view, Rey felt something else: surprise and excitement.

She looked like a kid in a candy store and while it was breathtakingly beautiful, it was also incredibly sad, to Poe, because it was not a look he got to see too often on Rey.

‘Come on.’, he grinned at her. ‘Race you!’

He didn’t wait for a response, took off in a run as fast as he could. He got to the tree first, but only because she was surprised.

Once he got there, Poe didn’t stop. He knew exactly which branch to grab and where he could plant his feet and in no time at all, he was up in the tree, resting on a branch half way up, grinning down at Rey.

She looked scandalized, which made him laugh.

But then, Rey scrunched up her face and fisted her right hand. Slowly but surely, she levitated off the ground, up and up until she was flying, eye level with Poe.

It took a moment for him to catch his breath.

‘Show-off.’

‘Get off the tree, Poe. It’s my time with it, now.’

He huffed and rolled his eyes, but he did throw himself off. He landed well, but his knees did remind him that he wasn't 16 anymore.

Rey levitated herself safely to the ground, glaring at him all the while. 

'I'll leave you to it.', he grinned and moved to leave.

She stopped him, by strongly grabbing his hand.

'Don't go too far, please.'

Poe kept on grinning, as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. 'I'll be ten steps away.'

He walked away, counting ten steps out loud, and layed down in the grass, pointedly not looking at her.

Well, he looked at her, but out of the corner of his eye.

Rey took a deep breath, closed her eyes and touched her palm flat on the tree bark. She stood like that for a while, more than half an hour. Then she huffed, clearly annoyed, moved a few steps back. 

‘This isn’t working!’, she yelled in Poe’s direction.

He was absolutely helpless, he had no idea about the Force and Jedis. 

‘You have to do this alone, Rey. I don’t know how to help you.’

Clearly, his words gave her an idea. She took a deep breath, and sat down in front of the tree, crossing her legs in a meditating position. Rey closed her eyes and Poe saw her lips move. He was too far away to hear what she was saying.

Slowly, she levitated off the ground and somehow, her words became clearer in Poe’s ears, even though he wasn’t sure Rey was talking louder.

_ Be with me _ .

Over and over again, she said those words. Rey stopped, with a flash of lightning.

Literally, a flash of blue lightning came out of her hands, hit the ground underneath her, leaving a scorch mark. But she did stop saying the words, and by the looks of it, she stopped doing anything.

Poe wasn’t sure she was breathing anymore, but she was still levitating, so he assumed that whatever she did, it worked and she was okay.

So he relaxed and laid back down in the grass.

He thought about how proud Luke and Leia would have been of Rey.

Rey and Ben both.

He thought about all the people they lost in the war.

He cried.

He took a nap.

He woke up three hours later.

Rey was still levitating.

He thought about all the things he loved about Rey.

He thought about how in love he was with Rey.

He thought about how Finn was in love with Rey.

He did not start crying again, but it was a close thing.

So he thought about all the places on Yavin-4 he wanted to take Finn and Rey to.

Half way through his inventory, she called his name.

Poe was quick to get up and look at her. She was still levitating, but her eyes were open.

She said his name again, but her voice shook and so did her entire body.

He was terrified that she was going to fall. It wasn’t that large of a drop, but Poe’s brain didn’t really work properly, right then. His feet did, though.

Poe ran the short distance to Rey, getting there just as she started to come down. He managed to wrap his arms around her waist and lower her to the ground gently. He kneeled next to her, not wanting to take his hands away.

‘How hurt are you?’, he asked, searching her body for visible wounds.

‘A lot.’, Rey whispered, and promptly started crying.

‘I meant physically. Do I need to call a medic?’

‘No.’, she shook her head, before pushing her cheek to his shoulder.

Of course, Poe hugged her properly. He let her cry on his shoulder, until she stopped shaking and her breathing evened out.

‘Let’s get you home, yeah?’

Surprisingly so, she let Poe help her up and back to the house.

Once there, Kes wordlessly directed them to the kitchen table, where he put a bowl of soup in front of her, and a large bottle of water. Finn pushed Poe to sit down next to her and placed some food in front of him, too.

They had been gone most of the day, Poe was actually starving.

Nobody said anything as they ate, but Rey got visibly better with every bite she took. Color came back into her skin and there was less pain in her eyes and in the air surrounding her.

When the food was gone, Kes got out sparkly ale for the four of them.

Rey smiled, eager to have a sip of it. She also took off her shoes and brought her knees up to her chest, getting comfortable.

‘You don’t have to tell us anything, sweetheart.’, Kes said gently.

‘Yeah, of course.’, Finn nodded as Poe said ‘We don’t even want to know, really.’

It made Rey laugh and roll her eyes. She took a deep breath after, and spoke gently.

‘I talked to them.’

‘Luke and Leia?’, Finn frowned.

‘The Jedi.’, she looked to Kes. ‘Luke and Leia. And Ben.’, her voice broke. ‘Obi Wan Kenobi, Qui Gon Jin, Mace Windu, Yoda. Anakin Skywalker.’

Kes stared at her with wide eyes. ‘Holy kriff, kid.’

‘It’s what Leia was training me to do. I wasn’t able to do it, until… until the end. It was easier now.’

‘That’s the tree.’, Poe said.

Kes started singing, surprisingly enough. ‘ _ Strange things did happen here / No stranger would it be. _ ’

‘ _ If we met at midnight / In the hanging tree. _ ’, Poe finished.

‘Hanging Tree?’, Rey frowned at him.

‘It’s an old story that got… distorted throughout the years. Some drunks in town hung a child kidnapper in a surprising display of vigilante justice. The song makes it seem like there were lovers involved and… stuff.’

‘Stuff.’, Finn snorted.

‘Shut up.’

Rey giggled.

‘Back to the Jedi?’, Poe wasn’t about begging.

‘They trust me.’, she said gently. ‘They trusted me to do what they couldn’t.’

‘Destroy Palpatine?’, Kes asked.

Again, Rey looked to him. ‘I’m his blood, I had so little training, and they still put their faith in me. And now, they-they trust me to do what’s right.’

‘Because you’re the last Jedi.’, Finn pointed out.

Rey huffed, unconvinced.

‘There’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders, now.’, Kes was thoughtful.

‘Because you’re the last Jedi?’, Finn asked, this time.

‘I’m not ready for it.’, Rey sighed. ‘And none of them are here to guide me. Sure, I can talk to them, now. But it’s not the same.’

‘You’re underestimating yourself.’, Kes said with certainty. ‘Which is to be expected, after a war of this magnitude and your part in it. You don’t get rid of post-battle stress in a month or two.’

Poe groaned. ‘You know, Dad, sometimes being straightforward is worse.’

‘No, it’s not.’, Rey absently touched his knee, not once looking away from Kes.

The older man talked gently. ‘Nobody is going to ask you, right now, what you plan to do for the rest of your life.’

‘I’m pretty sure the Council will.’, Finn pointed out.

‘Then the Council can suck my-’

‘Dad!’

‘Rey, you deserve some time to get  _ yourself  _ in a good place, mentally and emotionally, before you start thinking about what the Galaxy needs from you.’

‘That’s what Leia said.’, Rey admitted after a moment. ‘And Anakin.’

‘Bout the first time they agreed on something, I reckon.’

Rey chuckled at that, but it didn’t last long.

‘What did they say?’, Finn asked, clearly dying with curiosity. Poe could relate.

‘That’s between me and them.’, Rey said a little stiffly. ‘But, it’s... ‘, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘I doubted myself about a lot of things that I did, the choices I made. But I got confirmation and acceptance. And closure.’

Her voice broke on the last word, and Poe understood who she was talking about.

‘Ren?’, Finn asked, because he didn’t really understand all social cues, yet.

There was pain in Rey’s eyes, just a flash of it.

‘Ben, Finn.’, Poe said. ‘She talked to Ben, not Kylo Ren.’

She turned to look at Poe with something close to surprise. He didn’t understand it, so he frowned.

‘You are ridiculously strong, here.’, she said.

Which, again, he didn’t understand. Not at all. 

Rey didn’t explain. She shook her head and turned to Finn.

‘You felt me dying, didn’t you?’

Finn startled at that, but didn’t deny it. He nodded.

‘But you didn’t feel Leia.’, she went on.

‘No, I didn’t. Was I supposed to?’

‘You’re not supposed to anything, when it comes to the Force.’, Rey looked thoughtful. ‘But you are more connected to me, than you were to Leia. Makes sense that you would have felt me.’

‘Does it?’, Finn frowned. ‘Cause it doesn’t to me.’

‘You’re Force sensitive, Finn.’, Rey smiled. ‘I’ve been thinking about it ever since I learned what the Force was. Leia shared my idea.’

Clearly, Finn wasn’t convinced.

‘There are a lot of small moments when you showed Force sensitivity, but I think the biggest one was with the First Order.’

‘You don’t even know what I did with the First Order.’, Finn pointed out.

‘I know you ran, after you saw Ren. That was the first time you’ve seen him, right?’

After Finn nodded, Rey smiled.

‘That was the push you needed to run from them. You saw Ren, you saw the Force and the way he had tainted it.’

It took a few long moments for Finn to think that through. ‘I don’t think I believe you, but I see your point. Does it really matter, though? I mean, I can’t become a Jedi, can I?’

‘No.’, Rey chuckled. ‘I’m sure you would have made a great Jedi, but the Galaxy wants you to be something else.’

She didn’t let Finn answer that, because she turned to look at Poe.

‘I’m not Force sensitive, Rey, that’s ridiculous.’, he snorted.

‘Maybe you weren't.’, she agreed. ‘But…’

Rey put her hand out, palm side up, clearly waiting for him to do the same. He did so, put his hand over hers, but he frowned all the while.

‘You may have had a spark, naturally.’, she smiled at him. ‘I can’t tell. But here, you have a spark as strong as an X-Wing battery.’

With that, she lowered her hand a little, until she could snap her fingers, right under Poe’s hand.

There was a spark of blue lighting that came out of her fingers and traveled through Poe’s hand, levitating over his palm.

If he were a reasonable man, he probably would have screamed and pulled his hand away. Instead, Poe stared, absolutely fascinated, at the spark of lighting that was just sitting there, in the middle of his palm. He couldn’t feel it at all.

Rey made it disappear by pressing their palms together.

The way she was looking at him was incredibly amused, whereas Poe was having difficulty breathing, and not just because she was still holding his hand.

With a chuckle, she turned to Kes and raised an eyebrow.

‘You’re not telling me anything new, Rey. You’re just giving me confirmation.’

‘Dad, what the-’

‘You grew up sleeping next to the Force Tree.’, Rey said, like it explained everything. ‘You played in it, ran around it. Knowing you, you probably bled on it.’

‘I think I still have splinters in my knees.’, Poe admitted.

‘It pushed your spark just a little bit forwards. It’s stronger when you’re here, yes. You can sense what we’re all feeling, can’t you?’

He could, to a certain extent. If he were to be completely honest, he would have to admit that it was stronger with Rey than it ever was with anyone else. But he couldn’t do that, he’d be admitting far too much.

So Poe kept his mouth shut, but he nodded.

‘It’s not just here, thought.’, Rey said slowly, looking gently at him. ‘It helps you when you’re flying ridiculous schemes, when you’re giving hope to your squadron, when you…’

She shook her head. ‘You felt me once, too.’

‘No, I didn’t!’, he was quick to say.

‘You were unconscious on the transporter, before the Holdo maneuver.’

Poe frowned. ‘Yeah, and?’

‘And you woke up as I was screaming under Snoke’s torture.’

His jaw dropped at that.

‘Leia told me.’, Rey smiled. ‘She felt it, then. She always felt it, when you were around.’

When it became clear that Poe wasn’t able to say anything, Rey chuckled and turned back to his father.

‘Oh, don’t look at me, sweetheart. I was already an old man when we planted the tree. Nothing stuck to me.’

‘Are you telling me’, Poe’s brain finally turned back online, ‘that all three of us-’

‘Yes.’, Rey smiled at him and at Finn. ‘That’s what I was getting to. Everything’s… very connected.’

She looked to Kes. ‘You and your wife fought by Leia and Han’s side. Luke gave Shara the tree. Luke, who knew I was going to come to it, even if he didn’t know I was going to come to him.’

Did Poe ever tell her his mother’s name? He doesn’t think he did.

Rey turned to him. ‘Leia kept you by her side.’

To Finn. ‘You ran straight to Poe, and after, straight into my arms.’

She shook her head, looking down. ‘Ben was Darth Vader’s grandson. I am Palpatine’s granddaughter. The Skywalkers twins trained me. Han would have given me a job.’

With a chuckle, Rey moved her eyes to them all, one by one.

‘The three of us, we were always meant to… to do this. Together.’

In the silence that followed, Kes cleared his throat. ‘Is that a bad thing?’

Finn’s ‘NO!’ was the loudest, but Poe’s ‘Kriff no!’ was more impressive.

Rey started crying. ‘It’s the best thing in the Galaxy.’

Finn all but jumped over the table, in his haste to get to her side and wrap her in his arms. But Poe still got to hold her hand.

It was a gentle cry, though, the type that spoke of exhaustion, but Rey did squeeze Poe’s fingers tightly, and she did fist her fingers into Finn’s shirt.

‘I just hope’, Kes' voice broke the silence, ‘that you get to be kids for a while now.’

They broke the hug, then, and they all frowned at Kes. 

‘You know, Dad, I’m 32 years old.’

Kes raised an unimpressed eyebrow. ‘You’re still my kid.’

‘Which is exactly why tomorrow, I’m gonna take my friends skinny dipping.’

‘What’s… skinny dipping?’, Rey tilted her head.

Poe and Kes were pretty similar, considering how they both laughed evilly and refused to explain it to her.

⟩⟨

When Poe made his way to the kitchen in the morning, Rey and his dad were already awake.

Clearly, she had slept well, because she looked well rested. Her hair was a mess and she was still wearing pajamas, but she was grinning wildly.

As Kes was at the stove, making breakfast, Rey was hanging out with BB-8 on the floor. There was a wet rag in her hand, that she was rubbing into the droid’s crevices, cleaning it up.

BB-8 was telling a story, some ridiculously embarrassing thing Poe did last time he was home, and Kes was interrupting every now and then.

Rey was giggling, grin wide on her face, even as she kept taking care of BB-8.

Poe’s heart was… it was pulling maneuvers more dangerous than what he pulled in his X-Wing. The things Poe loved most in the world were there. Finn was the only one missing, but he was close by.

He felt incredibly happy, in that moment.

Of course, Rey probably sensed it, because she turned her head to him.

‘Sorry.’, he was quick to say, even if he didn’t really know what he was apologizing for.

‘Good morning.’, she smiled at him. ‘Sleep well?’

‘Not as well as you, apparently.’

She rolled her eyes at him, and so did his dad. They were both ganking up on Poe, clearly he had that to look forward to in his life. He didn’t mind it that much, but he grumbled as he made his way to the table, sitting down.

Kes put a large cup of caf in front of him, and Poe was quick to take a sip of the burning hot liquid.

BB-8 went on with the story, but after it was done, when Rey was laughing shamelessly at Poe’s expense, the droid rolled itself until it was sitting between Poe’s legs.

‘You good, buddy?’, he asked, reaching down to scratch his nails against BB-8’s dome.

_ I like it when we’re home! _

Poe chuckled.

‘You never did tell me how you got BB-8.’, Rey smiled at him.

_ Classified! Classified! Classified! _

‘Totally classified.’, Poe said over BB-8’s shrill.

‘You said it yourself, there isn’t a Resistance to lead anymore. Is it really classified anymore?’

‘Yup!’

_ Classified! _

Rey’s expression changed, she batted her eyelashes and smiled prettily.

‘Even to your best friends?’

BB-8 looked between Rey and Poe, clearly waiting for his reaction.

He was a weak man when it came to pretty girls giving him attention, but not when it came to Rey. He was weaker when she cursed at him and called him names, not when she batted her eyelashes.

‘Still classified, sweetheart.’

Instantly, her sweet expression changed, and Rey glared strongly at him.

‘Don’t call me that.’

‘Dad calls you that!’

‘He can call me whatever he likes, you on the other hand-’

‘Why does he get to call you that?’, Poe pouted, very theatrically.

‘Cause he’s nice.’

‘Hey, I’m nice.’

‘No.’, Rey snorted.

‘I’m nice to you!’

‘No.’

‘Yeah I am. When I want to.’, Poe amended, smirking only slightly.

‘Even when you’re nice, you’re difficult.’

‘You know, everyone thinks you’re this sweet innocent girl, when in fact you’re a big ass b-’

‘Hey, BB-8!’, Kes interrupted loudly. ‘Are they always like this?’

_ Yes! _ , the droid beeped happily.

‘How can you stand it?’

_ It’s easy because I need both of them. _

All three humans frowned at that.

‘Need them for what?’, Kes asked wearily.

_ I fly with Poe, which is fun! And Rey keeps me safe and clean! _

It took a moment, of Kes looking between the two of them, before he started laughing. He didn’t say anything, all but turned his back to them, but he did laugh for a long while.

Poe shared a look with Rey. Hers was questioning, but he had no answer for her, so he just shrugged.

That was when Finn came out of his guest room.

His eyes were barely open and he was grumbling. ‘Why are you so loud?’

They all started laughing at that.

⟩⟨

Poe had been totally serious about going swimming, so he packed a bag with food and towels and led his friends through the forest.

Rey was enjoying the walk, she kept skipping over rocks and picking up flowers. Finn kept grumbling about bugs, but it didn’t bring down Poe’s good mood.

They were close to the lake, close enough that Poe could smell the water, when Rey finally said something.

‘You don’t actually expect us to go skinny dipping, do you?’

Poe smirked at her. ‘Well, that depends if you know what skinny dipping is.’

‘Kes told us.’, she deadpanned, making Poe’s smirk webb away.

‘And’, Rey went on, ‘he told us that it is more socially acceptable to go swimming wearing some sort of clothes, rather than none.’

With a last turn, the lake came into view. Someone had put up a pier since the last time Poe was here, which was a good idea, but…

He turned to Rey. She had seen water before, Poe knew it, but it didn’t stop her from looking on with awe and excitement.

‘You don’t know how to swim, do you?’

‘Nope.’, she grinned.

‘I do.’, Finn offered.

‘That’s good. The two of us need to keep an eye on Rey.’

The eye roll she threw his way was a thing of beauty. But she probably knew he didn’t mean it as condescending as it sounded.

Rey started stripping off her clothes, which shut both Poe and Finn up. They stared at her with their jaws dropped and…

She took off the tunic and pants she wore, revealing a black pair of shorter pants and a black breast band.

‘Men are ridiculous.’, was all she said before she took off running, straight down the pier. She jumped into the water with a joyful shriek.

Only after Rey came up to the surface, laughing brightly, did Poe and Finn start taking off their clothes. Well, most of them.

Poe ran and cannonballed into the lake, as Finn jumped at a more sedated pace.

It took virtually no time at all for them to start acting like children, splashing each other and trying to dunk the others under the water. Honestly, Poe hadn’t had this much innocent fun since he was 14.

They played in the water for a long time. The men tried to teach Rey to swim, but it was a futile attempt, she was more than happy to just splash and turn around on the spot.

At one point, Poe felt an urgent feeling, a sort of desperation that he knew all too well, and it was coming from Finn. Rey must have sensed it too, but she ignored it, or at least tried to.

Poe took his cue and even if he didn’t really want to, he made his way back to shore. He toweled off and laid down in the grass, basking in the sun and doing his very best to not think about what sort of conversation Rey and Finn were having.

It didn’t work too well, but Poe did, eventually, fall asleep.

When he woke up, Finn was snoring by his side and Rey was wide awake, looking at them both and smiling.

‘That’s creepy.’, Poe whispered. 

'You look very harmless when you sleep.'

He blinked at that, willing his brain to come back online.

'Well, I'm not.'

'I know.', Rey smiled, somehow looking both annoyed and fond.

Poe ignored her. He stretched his back and yawned shamelessly, rubbing away the last dregs of sleep from his eyes.

Then he leveled her with a look. 'You okay?'

'More than.', she smiled.

Rey laid in the grass next to him, on her front, with her head resting on her crossed arms. She closed her eyes, but faced him nonetheless. 

'May I ask you something? It's kind of personal.'

'Sure.', he shrugged. 'I may not answer, but ask away.'

'How much of the Force stuff do you believe in?'

Poe frowned, a little. 'All of it?'

'You can't answer a question with another question.'

He rolled his eyes. 'I believe everything, I guess. Considering how much I've seen of the Force, I can't not believe it. But most of it, I don't understand.'

'So you believe, but don't understand?', she opened her eyes, regarding him curiously.

Poe shrugged. ‘There is no way, whatsoever, that I will ever understand how a Jedi can… Force-holo themselves to another planet, systems away.’

‘Ah.’, Rey said, diplomatically.

‘Or how it is that you can heal flesh? Without any medicine.’, Poe went on. ‘Or feel what another person’s feeling.’

‘You do that too.’

‘Which makes it easier to believe, but still impossible to understand.’

‘And you accept that? Most people wouldn’t accept that.’

Poe smiled, a little. ‘Magic is hard to accept, when you grow up learning about mechanics and physics. But’, he grinned at Rey, ‘I also grew up next to the magic tree, so…’

She chuckled, at that. ‘So there’s a balance between magic and science.’

'Isn't the Force about balance? I remember you said that, once.'

'Yes it is. I…', she shook her head, something vulnerable appearing in her eyes.

Poe waited patiently.

'When this all started, I thought people wouldn't be so understanding. Of me, being a Jedi. Understanding and… and accepting.'

'Not me.', he was quick to say. 'Not us. Rey, we  _ saw _ the things you can do.'

'Exactly.', she said stiffly. 'Why aren't you afraid? Or, at least, apprehensive?'

Poe wanted to scream. If she really didn't know how she looked in his eyes, there were no words in Basic to help her understand.

Still, he was going to try.

'We all grew up with stories of the Force, Rey. Me especially. I grew up with Uncle Luke and Aunt Leia. Yeah, they came over rarely, but I still  _ knew  _ them. Because of that, all the stories were real.'

'I understand that, but-'

'And then I saw you.', he cut her off. 'The first time I saw you, you brought Finn, bleeding and unconscious, and I wanted to slap you.'

She just raised an eyebrow at that.

'I was dumb and uninformed, and I thought you should have done a better job at protecting Finn.'

'Fair enough.'

'But then, the second time I saw you, you were… Kriff, Rey, you were lifting rocks and saving the Resistance. You were…', he was having difficulties choosing words.

'You were beautiful and strong and the very thing I always prayed for: hope.'

He cut himself off from saying more, too scared to reveal more than he should.

'But I screwed up.', she said in a tiny voice.

Poe sighed. 'We all did. But we learned from our screwups, didn't we?'

She nodded.

'So it wasn't for nothing. And everything that we did, every screwup we made, it led to the destruction of the First Order and Palpatine's final death. What we did is incredible. Please keep that in mind.'

Again, Rey nodded. 'It's hard to remember the good things, not just the bad.'

Poe understood that. 'I'll remind you.', he smiled. 'Just say the word and I'll tell you something good you need to remember.'

She sighed. 'Poe? Remind me of something good.'

'The first time you flew the Falcon.'

Rey scrunched up her nose at that.

'Yeah, you were running from the First Order.', Poe amended. 'And yeah, it was short lived cause Han and raptars. But you can't tell me that there wasn't a moment, during that flight, when you felt absolutely incredible and unstoppable.'

It took a moment, but Rey smiled. 'How do you know that?'

He grinned. 'Cause I've been there, done that.'

She chuckled and closed her eyes. 'Your turn to be on watch.'

Poe's stomach sunk immediately, and his heart broke. Gently, so very gently, he placed a hand on her back and started rubbing circles onto it.

He also lowered himself, hovering over her, so that he could whisper in her ear.

'Sweetheart, you don't have to keep watch anymore. The war is over, there's nobody coming after you. You're safe here.'

He took a shaky breath. 'Rey, you're  _ safe  _ here. This is my home. Half the people on this planet fear me, and the other half fear Dad. Nobody would ever dare hurt you here.'

Poe took another moment or two until he pulled away. She was watching him with wide eyes.

'You're safe here.', he said again, as strongly as he could. 'You can rest.'

Rey nodded, slowly, blinking twice before closing her eyes. Poe kept gently running his fingers over her back and shoulders, until he felt her muscles relax and her breathing even out.

Finn was awake, probably had been for a while, but he didn't say anything, and he didn't move to get up, either.

So Poe relaxed, kept his mouth shut in order to not disturb Rey, and spent some time thinking about what other places on Yavin-4 he wanted to show her and about the fact that he called her  _ sweetheart  _ and didn’t get punched for it.

⟩⟨

Later that night, long after Rey and Kes went to sleep, Poe and Finn were still out on the porch, drinking slowly and enjoying the night’s clear sky.

They hadn’t spoken in a while, both of them lost in thought, so when Finn said the words, it took a moment for Poe to actually understand them.

‘I told her.’

‘Hm?’, Poe hummed.

‘I told Rey.’

Poe almost dropped the glass he was holding in his haste to turn and look at Finn.

‘You told Rey?’

‘Yeah.’, Finn said, evenly.

‘You told her that-’

‘Yeah.’

‘What did you tell her?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Finn, buddy-’

‘I told her-’

‘You told Rey you’re in love with her?’

Finn finally showed some emotion, by flinching. ‘Kinda.’

‘Okay.’, Poe said slowly, taking a deep breath. ‘Talk to me, man.’

‘At the lake, after you fell asleep. I told her, in the water.’

‘I kinda figured that out, yeah.’, Poe admitted. ‘How did it go?’

Finn looked away, back to the stars. ‘You were right.’

‘I was?’

‘Yeah. And Rey helped me figure it out.’

‘Figure what out?’

‘That I’m not actually in love with her.’

Poe gulped.

‘We talked’, Finn said softly, ‘about a lot of things. And it was pretty painful and all that, but at the end of it, Rey helped me realize that… The way I love her, it’s more Luke and Leia, than Han and Leia.’

‘Oh.’, was all Poe was able to say.

The other man turned to look at him with a very particular glare. ‘Which means that you can take your shot.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’, Poe was quick to say.

Finn snorted. ‘Yeah, you do. And so do I, cause I’m Force sensitive.’

What could Poe possibly say to that? He felt ashamed, in that moment, more than ever before.

‘Don’t.’, Finn slapped the back of his head. ‘Don't be an idiot. It's fine.'

'Is it?'

'Yes. It's totally fine by me. I know there's probably some unspoken friendship code we're breaking here, but I don't care. I completely approve.'

'Uh, well, I mean…', Poe gulped again. 'Thank you.'

'Don't do that either.', Finn snorted. 'Just… make sure you do it right. She deserves it.'

'I know. She deserves a lot better than me.'

'Poe', the other man sighed, 'she deserves someone who's going to love her and respect her. Can you do that?'

'Yes, but-'

'But nothing. Don't be an idiot and it'll be fine.'

Poe took a deep breath. 'I don't think she… wants me, like that.'

Finn tilted his head.

'She was in love with Ben.', Poe said gently. 'I know what she said to the Council, but she felt it. Whatever it was, Rey felt it. And that was last week.'

'I don't know. I can read your emotions a lot better than I can read hers. But I think you should ask.'

'Maybe I will. Eventually.'

Finn snorted. 'I'm not getting anything better than that right now, am I?'

Poe shook his head. 'Nope.'

'I'll take it.', Finn grinned. 'But I am for sure going to nag you about it in the future.'

Oh, Poe was sure of it.

⟩⟨

Two days later, Da'mar joined them for breakfast.

Poe wished she would have called before, because he stepped into the kitchen without pants on, begging his Dad for coffee. It was horribly embarrassing.

That feeling died quickly, though, because it was clear that Da'mar was there for business.

Poe sat with Rey and Finn on one side of the kitchen table, the men flanking her, while Da'mar sat on the other side and Kes made himself scarce. There was a lot of anxiousness, that Poe was feeling, and it wasn’t all his.

‘So.’, Da'mar started. ‘How are you holding up?’

Neither Rey or Finn looked like they were willing to answer, so Poe tried his best to not sound like a complete asshole.

‘We’re fine. Eating regularly, sleeping more than two hours a time, spending time in the sun, having fun. What about you?’

Okay, so maybe he sounded more sarcastic than he should, considering Da'mar raised an eyebrow.

‘Sorry, Ma’am.’, he tilted his head. ‘We’re still on edge, so would you please tell us why you’re here?’

The woman nodded. ‘I’m here to reward you for all the work you have done in the war against the First Order.’

‘Reward us how?’, Finn’s eyes were narrowed.

From her pocket, Da'mar pulled out three credit chips.

‘I’ve never had any credits to my name.’, Finn said in a surprisingly small voice.

‘I never saw credit chips.’, Rey added, and Poe swallowed against the urge to punch something.

Instead, he looked closer at the chips, noticing that they were custom. Two of them had the Resistance logo on it, in silver, while the third one had what was clearly an unignited lightsaber, made of gold.

Da'mar pushed the two Resistance chips in front of Poe and Finn.

‘You two boys get 100 million credits each.’

Poe’s jaw fell to the floor.

‘Sorry’, Kes’ head appeared in the doorway, ‘I was eavesdropping and didn’t quite hear that. Did you say a hundred million credits?’

‘Yes, Sargeant.’, Da'mar smirked.

‘Good, good. Carry on.’

Kes disappeared again and Poe had yet to close his mouth.

‘How much is that?’, Rey whispered.

‘Enough to build three Star-Destroyers.’, Finn said. He sounded breathless.

‘We have acquired all of the First Order credits and divided them as we saw fit. Naturally, the Council kept most of it, in the name of the Galaxy, but every other member of the Resistance has received 5 million.’

‘What about-’, Poe started, but she cut them off.

‘So has every next of kin to the members that are lost.’

He nodded. ‘This is still too much for us.’

‘It’s not, Dameron.’, the woman smiled, a little. ‘I’m sure both of you will use it wisely.’

Then, Da'mar turned to Rey. She pushed the last credit chip to her, and she smiled as she grabbed it.

‘It’s not completely accurate, but I like it.’

‘Rey, there are 800 million credits to your name.’

Nobody said anything, for a long, long while.

‘That’s ridiculous.’, Rey angrily said, putting the chip back on the table. ‘No, take it back, use it for something else.’

‘I’m not going to do that’, Da'mar said calmly, ‘but I’m going to be honest with you. We are under the impression that you will use the money to continue what Luke didn’t.’

Poe understood it immediately, and so did Rey, considering all of her anger disappeared.

‘You want her to start a Jedi temple?’, Finn was angry.

‘Not a temple.’, Rey said, glaring at Da'mar. ‘There will never be a Jedi temple, ever again. The Jedi religion is a joke and most of the teachings are very outdated.’

‘Are they?’, Da'mar asked calmly.

‘Yes. That’s not what the Galaxy needs, not a Jedi temple. But a school, for the ones who can use the Force, who can feel it. A place where they can learn what it means, what they can do with it. Somewhere they can be safe and they can practice. Somewhere they can learn how to use the Force and still be… normal.’

Poe stared at Rey in awe. She sounded very passionate, like she was about to get up from the table and build the school from the ground up by herself. There was a flush to her cheeks and in the Force, Poe felt her strength, to the point where it made his heart vibrate in his chest.

‘You’ve thought about this before.’, Kes’ soft tone broke the silence. Poe didn’t even notice him come in.

Rey turned to look at the older man. ‘I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do it.’

‘And that is why you get so much.’, Da'mar said softly. ‘We’re not going to order you to do it. But if you do it, we will help you as much as we can. You can’t do it alone.’

‘She’s not alone.’, Poe and Finn said at the same time.

It made Rey smile, as she looked at Da'mar.

‘I need more time.’

‘For what?’, the other woman asked.

‘To feel like myself again’, Rey said softly. ‘Before I can help anyone else, I need to help myself.’

‘We have doctors that could help you.’

‘No. I have everything I need right here.’

Da'mar rolled her eyes. ‘You can’t-’

‘I can and I will.’, Rey cut her off strongly. ‘I have everything I need here, and I’m not just talking about my living friends.’

‘Ah.’, Da’mar blinked. ‘The Force Tree?’

Rey nodded.

‘And because I don’t understand much about the Force’, Da’mar went on, ‘I’m just supposed to believe you.’

Rey smiled, just a small smirk on her lips.

‘That’s exactly what you should do, Ma’am.’, Kes said, clearly fighting back a laugh.

Da’mar sighed, but she did get up, leveling Rey with a look. ‘Don’t be stubborn. When you need help, ask for it. I can easily get you materials and workforce, anywhere in the Galaxy. Alright?’

Rey nodded. ‘Thank you, but be sure I won’t be calling you tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or the day after that. Or-’

‘I understand.’, Da’mar snorted. ‘Just… call us. Call  _ me _ , alright? I, unlike my male counterparts in the Council, am reasonable.’

‘We will call you.’, Rey nodded again. ‘You have my word.’

With another nod and eye roll, Da’mar took her leave. Nobody offered to walk her out.

They were all silent, until they heard her ship take off. And even then, it didn’t seem like any of them felt like talking.

Poe said something first. He thought a lot about some nice words to say, to calm Rey and Finn down.

What came out was something very different: the unaltered truth.

‘I’m going to start crying.’

‘Yes.’, Finn was quick to say.

Rey snorted, softly. ‘I’m already crying.’

Both Finn and Poe reached for her hand. She chuckled, weakly, but grabbed both of their hands, placing them in her lap.

'They did this last time, too.', Kes said, making them all look up at him. 'For some reason, people with money think that money makes everything better. It doesn't, but at least you kids won't ever have to worry about it again.'

Rey and Finn both opened their mouths, but Kes glared them into silence.

'Don't even think about leaving. You two stay here as long as you need, as long as you want, as long as you like. Being alone is not a good idea right now, trust me on that.'

'Dad really doesn't mind.', Poe added. 'He likes noise and hubbub.'

'I sure do.', Kes grinned. 'I also like the people my son loves, so trust me when I tell you that I love the fact that you're safe, under the same roof. At least for now.'

Neither Rey nor Finn said anything, so Kes made his way to their side and kissed their foreheads.

It was a fatherly gesture that Poe barely even noticed anymore, but it made Rey's breathing falter and Finn curled in on himself, making himself look very small.

Kes cursed under his breath, a Yevanisse word that usually, if Poe said out loud, it would have gotten him grounded.

'Poe', the older man looked to his son, 'we have work to do. We gotta teach these kids what unconditional love means.'

'I'm working on it.'

'I need to meditate.', Rey said.

'Go to the tree, sweetheart.', Kes smiled at her. 'We'll be here when you're ready.'

With a short squeeze to Poe's fingers, Rey let go of his hand and quickly walked out of the house.

'I'm gonna go lie down.', was all Finn said, before rushing to his room.

Kes came by Poe's side, kissed his forehead and hugged his shoulders.

'I'm proud of you, kid.'

That's all it took to make Poe start crying. His father held him, like he was eight again, crying for his mother who was never coming home.

He cried for a long time, but Kes held him through it.

'We adoptem them, didn't we?', Kes asked after Poe had calmed down.

'Yeah. Yeah we have.'

'Good. I'm glad.'

'Yeah?', Poe asked, hesitation seeping through. It was important for him that his dad liked Rey and Finn. If he didn't, they were going to have a big problem.

'I love them already.', Kes laughed. 'Kriff, Poe, I loved them from the moment I realized you did.'

Poe went back to crying, this time in relief.

⟩⟨

They went shopping the next day.

One of Poe's stops on  _ List of Places Rey and Finn Need to See on Yavin-4  _ was the local market.

They had credits, now, and both Rey and Finn were tired of wearing Poe's old clothes.

So to the market they went.

It wasn't incredibly large, the village they were closest to wasn't, either. But the market had a little bit of everything that you could need, things made by the villagers.

Everyone knew Poe, so they wasted a lot of time making small talk. But Rey and Finn didn't seem to mind.

Finn got a few pants, some shirts and a pair of swimming shorts, alongside a pair of boots, sturdy but thin enough for the climate. Rey got two pairs of boots, a couple of pants, long and short, just a few tunics, and a lot of materials she was planning to make into clothes. She got a dress, saying that she had no idea when she was supposed to wear a dress, but that she liked the color. It was dark teal, like the angry waters of Ahch-To, apparently, and just seeing the line of it, Poe started drooling even without seeing Rey in it.

She also got an alarming number of writing tools: papers, notebooks and various pens. And a small wooden box that the lady selling it said was for jewelry. Poe didn't think Rey had anything like that, but he didn't comment on it.

Then they got to the food section, and both Rey and Finn got way too many things. He couldn’t fault them, not at all. The market was filled with things that were new to them, and Poe knew, for a fact, they were going to be delicious.

They also got Kes some alcohol which, again, Poe couldn’t convince them not to.

So they filled their hands with bags, making it hard to run. Poe would have liked to run, run fast back home, when they bumped into an ex-girlfriend as they were walking out of the market.

Honestly, she wasn’t important. She wasn’t important not even when it happened, considering Poe broke it off when he left for the Academy. But, of course, she didn’t see it like that. In all the years that passed, she held a grudge, and every time she saw him, she liked to, metaphorically speaking, wipe the floor with him.

Still, Poe tried to be polite. He also tried to get out of there as soon as possible, but he let her have at it. She insulted him three times and made fun of him two times in the span of three short minutes.

After she left, Poe breathed a sigh of relief. It was short lived, because he remembered he wasn’t alone.

Finn was glaring at him, clearly judging with all his power, while Rey just looked curious.

‘Uh, sorry about that. Long story.’ He shook his head. ‘Old story, doesn’t matter.’

Finn snorted. ‘So you were a spice runner, and a… bad decision.’

‘Yeah. Lots of bad decisions in my youth.’

‘Anything else we should know about?’

There were a few things, but Poe didn’t feel comfortable discussing them, right then.

‘You’re a surprising man.’, Rey said, clearly sensing his discomfort and changing the subject.

Poe playfully narrowed his eyes. ‘I thought you said I was a difficult man.’

‘Both.’, she smirked at him. ‘Definitely both. And I have a feeling I’m going to add more words to my list.’

He couldn’t help but grin. ‘Awh, Rey, you have a list about me?’

‘I have multiple lists about you.’

‘Now I’m intrigued.’

She snorted. ‘Like you don’t have a list or five about me.’

‘Well, I mean-’

‘You guys do remember I’m here, right?’, Finn all but yelled.

Poe blushed, instantly, and he could feel Rey’s embarrassment, too. She recovered quickly, though.

‘Don’t be jealous, Finn.’, she smiled innocently. ‘I have lists about you, too.’

Finn didn’t answer, he just snorted, rolled his eyes, and started walking back home. 

Wordlessly, they followed him. But Rey winked at Poe, before striking up a conversation with Finn and Poe… didn’t know what to do with that.

⟩⟨

Over the next weeks, Poe noticed a few important changes with Rey.

She was sneaky about it, but she was clearly doing research for her school. Mainly, on how to build it. She kept writing things in her notebooks and she had piles of drawn papers. She didn’t say anything, though, not to Poe, at least. She talked with Kes about it, sometimes, and Poe was glad that she wasn’t set on doing everything alone.

Another thing that changed with Rey was her appetite. She started eating more at each meal, and snacking on fresh fruits and vegetables in between. She also started helping Kes in the kitchen when he cooked, taking notes in one of her notebooks that was specifically reserved for it, and asking a billion questions. It was a time used to bond with Kes, and Poe loved being a creep and listening to them from afar.

The change in appearance wasn’t that big. She started wearing the clothes that she bought, strategically wrapping her body in the materials she had. She still looked like Rey, with her three hair buns and pink, bitten lips, but she was transitioning to the Yavin life. Her hair got frizzy when it rained, she wore Poe or Kes’ jackets at night, when it got colder, her boots got scruffy around the edges from all the walking in the woods and there was always dirt under her nails, because she started helping in the gardens.

Rey started taking long walks, around the woods, around town. After a few days of regularly missing for a few hours, she started coming back sweating, the distinct smell of an ignited lightsaber clinging to her. She always came back grinning wildly, so Poe was glad that she started training again.

The biggest change with Rey took Poe a long while to figure out, but he did it, eventually.

She changed the way she acted with Poe.

The bickering came back, and it was ten times worse than it used to be. It was incredibly fun and he absolutely loved bickering with her, but he loved it even more when they talked. Just talked, about this and that, about unimportant topics, about important topics, about everything and anything.

Rey also touched him more, simple, casual touches, that weren’t supposed to mean anything but Poe felt them imprinted on his skin. 

He didn’t… react in any way to these changes. He answered every time, sure. Poe answered any questions she had, when they talked he made sure to keep the conversation going. He smiled at her every time she touched him, didn’t hesitate to touch her back, but beyond that, Poe tried his very best to not act in any way different with her.

Finn was getting bored, because he spent most of his day throwing Poe these  _ looks _ . They were supposed to make Poe make a move on Rey, or something along those lines.

He had absolutely no intention to do that, and he wanted to punch Finn in the face.

⟩⟨

‘Come on a walk with me.’

Rey said the words very clearly, obviously directing them at Poe. And yet, he had a problem comprehending them, because she had never wanted anybody to accompany her on her walks.

And yet, here she was. And there was no way Poe was going to refuse.

‘Do I need to wear training clothes?’

Rey laughed at that. ‘Not today.’

'Put on comfortable boots.', Finn piped up. 'There's a long way to go.'

Poe frowned at the other man.

'Oh, I went on the walk yesterday.', Finn was smug. 'I already know everything.'

So it wasn't so much of a walk, as much as it was a conversation. Rey probably wanted to tell him about the school and considering how she was glaring mildly at him and tapping her foot, she was in a hurry.

Poe nodded once and wordlessly put on comfortable boots.

⟩⟨

Their first stop was the tree, where Rey asked Poe to sing to her.

'Man, this really is shaping up to be a weird day.'

Rey snorted. 'Would you please sing to me The Hanging Tree? I just want to know how it goes.'

'It's not… a good story.'

'You're blushing really bad.', Rey smirked.

'I'm a terrible singer.'

'I couldn't care less.', she sighed. But she also stepped up to him and gently grabbed his hand.

'I'll close my eyes', she offered. 'Maybe if I'm not looking at you, you won't be that embarrassed.'

Poe shrugged, he didn't think it was going to help him much. But Rey did close her eyes, even as she kept smiling softly.

Who was he kidding? He'd do anything for the woman in front of him. So, with a deep breath, Poe closed his eyes and started singing.

**_Are you, are you_ **

**_Coming to the tree_ **

**_Where they strung up a man_ **

**_They say who murdered three_ **

**_Strange things did happen here_ **

**_No stranger would it be_ **

**_If we met at midnight_ **

**_In the hanging tree_ **

When he was done and opened his eyes, he was surprised to see that Rey was staring at him.

'You said you wouldn't look.'

'I lied.', she said, shameless. 'You're right, it isn't a good story. But it is a pretty song.'

'If you say so. Why did you want to hear it?'

She shook her head. 'Let's walk.'

Poe sighed, mildly frustrated by the mystery. Still, he followed her.

His frustration grew on the walk, because no matter how much he asked, Rey refused to tell him where they were going or what they were doing.

After an hour of leisure walking, they reached… nowhere. It was pretty much the middle of nowhere.

There was a large open field where there was nothing planted, but it was covered in wild bushes and a few old tree stumps that were long dead.

You couldn't see any village nearby, but Poe knew there were three of them close enough to walk to.

In this place, Rey sat down in the grass, crossing her legs and ordering him to join her.

Poe sat down in front of her, his knees protesting only a little.

'So', he leveled her with a look, 'is this where Rey Skywalker's school for Force kids will be built?'

She blinked at him. 'What makes you say that?'

'I figured out that's what you've been doing. Researching, asking Dad, the long walks. Right?'

'Yes. Yes, you're right.', she shook her head. 'Finn didn't figure it out.'

'Eh, I still have some things to teach him.'

She snorted at that, but Poe realized that she wanted this to be a serious discussion, so he straightened his back.

'It's a good place.'

'Is it?'

'Yeah. Close enough to villages if you need anything, but not close enough to hinder. There's a forest nearby, so it's a good training spot. And I think the soil's good for building larger structures, too.'

Rey just looked at him, no expression on her face.

'I bought it.'

His jaw dropped.

'How the kriff did you-'

'Kes helped, put me in touch with the owner.'

'That's… Rey, that's amazing! This is really happening.'

'Not yet.', she smiled. 'I'm going to a meeting tomorrow, with all the villages' leadership.'

'I didn't think Yavin still had a planet council.'

'It doesn't, but Kes pulled some strings.'

‘Of course he did.’, Poe sighed.

Rey moved, a little, so that their knees were touching. ‘Don’t be pissed off that he didn’t tell you.’, she said genty, knowingly. ‘I asked him not to and, at first, he wasn’t going to do it. But I convinced him.’

‘How did you manage to do that, huh? Extortion? Emotional blackmail?’

Kes may love Rey a whole lot, but Poe was his child and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that his well being held priority over anything and anyone else.

‘I told him the whole plan.’, Rey admitted. ‘Which, if you calm down, I’m going to tell you, too.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘I am calm. It’s just that I'm awfully curious and not knowing… irks me.’

‘I’m going to tell you everything, but you have to promise you’re not going to interrupt me.’, Rey raised an eyebrow.

Poe sighed. ‘That’s gonna be… difficult.’

‘You are a difficult man.’

He’s been hearing that a lot, from her, but every time she said it, the smile she paired with it kept growing, until it reached a grin.

‘You have my word that I’m going to try my very best to keep my mouth shut.’

‘That’s all I’m asking.’, she smiled.

Then, Rey took a deep breath, and started telling him the plan. 

Her plan was…  _ huge _ .

She started by explaining all the buildings the school will have, from sleeping quarters and library, to hangar, training rooms, classes and study halls.

She went on with what having a school on Yavin actually meant: strangers, kids with powers they don’t know how to control yet, yeah, that was a given. But she also spoke, surprisingly strong, about how many jobs the school will make, from cooks and engineers, to teachers. 

Rey spoke a lot about the teachers, without actually naming any.

She also spoke of economic growth, about how she will try to buy everything locally, about how it will help the villagers in the long run.

On and on and on she went, and Poe was completely in awe. Clearly, Rey had put a lot of thought into it, and she researched everything properly. He had a feeling she had help from her Force ghosts, but that didn’t make it any less impressive.

All Poe did, since he came home, was rest, drink, gossip with his Dad and Finn, and watch trashy holo films. And here was Rey, with a long life plan of monumental proportions.

He felt absolutely miniscule, in that moment, worthless and unimportant. But, more strongly than that feeling, was the love he felt for Rey.

It really was the strongest feeling that he has ever felt, and that was saying something, considering the life Poe had lived. He didn’t know what to do with it.

But it wasn’t important, right then. What was important was Rey and her plan.

‘I’m going to try my best, at the meeting, to explain that the planet is going to be safe. The tree is doing most of the work, but I’m going to make sure that... Why are you looking at me like that?’

‘You’re incredible.’

He realized that it wasn’t the moment for the words he had said, but Poe didn’t want to take them back.

Rey’s smile turned shy. ‘I haven't done anything yet.’

‘But you’re going to. You’re going to do everything you said, and more.’

She was blushing, but she didn’t back down, didn’t look away from Poe.

‘I thought you weren’t going to interrupt me.’

‘Sorry.’, he tilted his head. ‘Go on.’

‘If everyone on the planet council agrees, I’m going to build this school, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life helping everyone I can.’

Poe nodded at that, knowing it was as good as a promise. He also pushed their knees together a little harsher, to urge her on.

‘And if they don’t agree’, Rey looked into his eyes, ‘then I’m going to build a house here. A home.’

He did not answer that, for several long moments. She was waiting on him, but she didn’t rush Poe. 

He had a lot of things he wanted to say, from ‘Why?’ to ‘Stay with me forever’. His brain settled on something in between.

'You're going to stay here?'

'Yes.'

'On Yavin-4?'

'Yes.'

'Forever?'

Rey smiled. 'Well, maybe not forever. I mean, maybe not always. There's a lot of the Galaxy I haven't seen. But I'll always come back to Yavin-4.'

'Here?'

'Yes, Poe.', she laughed at him.

He took a deep breath.

'With me?', he breathed out. 'And Finn? And Kes?'

She grabbed his hand, placed both of them on her knee.

'Finn already agreed to help me with the school. He can teach some blaster training, strategy. And he can handle supplies.' She tilted her head. 'I'm sure he'll end up doing more than that.'

'Oh.', was all Poe was able to say.

The truth was, he was overwhelmed, at that moment. Overwhelmed with happiness.

Both Rey and Finn, making a life on Yavin-4? Living within walking distance of Kes' farm?

Being home, with Poe?

It was the best thing to happen to him since… 

'Poe, I'm sorry, but you know I can… feel you, right?', Rey asked with hesitance. 'I can't stop it, especially when you're feeling so… much.'

'Just gimme a minute.', he breathed out.

Poe closed his eyes, feeling like a real idiot. He tried to take control of himself, make his heart stop shaking and stop projecting his feelings all over her.

After a few long moments, Rey started playing with his fingers, reminding him that she was still holding his hand.

'You're happy.', she said with certainty. 'I've never felt you like this before.'

She was right. The happiness he felt at the end of the war was different, ragged and laced with the painful reminder of loss.

This was something else entirely. This was excitement and contempt, the prospect of a future spent together.

In one way or another, Rey and Finn will be close to him, always, and it was something he couldn't even dream of before.

'You're happy, too.', Poe finally said, opening his eyes. 'I can feel it, a little.'

'I'm alive.', Rey smiled. 'I have a purpose, a place in the Galaxy. I'm… I'm  _ alive _ .'

Unlike some people, Poe thought. He realized this was the time to say something that was on his mind for a long time, but that he hadn't found the strength to say.

'I'm sorry you lost him.'

Rey swallowed, thickly. 'How can you say that, after all he did to you?'

He shook his head. 'That's between me and him. But what you two had, what you two did… I'm sorry you have to feel this pain.'

She narrowed her eyes at him, frowning a little. ‘You’ve lost lovers before.’

Poe nodded, wordlessly. He didn’t want to talk about it, right then.

‘You can name the school after him.’, he offered. ‘The Ben Solo School for Force and Stuff.’

Rey snorted, clearly surprised by the joke.

‘We’re not calling it that, but…’, she took a deep breath and the smile fell off her face. ‘I don’t want what happened to Ben to ever happen again. I don’t want anybody, anybody who can use the Force, to ever feel like he did.’

Rey looked away from him, looking down to where their hands were still clasped. ‘Ben was surrounded by people like him, but felt like he didn’t belong. And because of that, Palpatine had a lot easier of a job, to bring him to the dark side. I can’t let that happen again.’

‘Was Ben the first guy you loved?’

As soon as Poe said the words, he wanted to shoot himself in the face.

‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that, you don’t have to-’

‘Yes.’, Rey said evenly, shutting him up. ‘And it was… too much.’

‘It was.’, Poe said gently. ‘But it was real.’

‘Was it?’

‘Rey.’, he sighed. ‘You said it yourself. What did you call it, a dyad?’

‘Yes, but that means we were strong, in the Force. Together.’, her voice broke over that word. ‘It doesn’t mean love. We weren’t supposed to fall in love.’

‘But it happened.’, Poe said slowly. ‘And it wasn’t because of the Force, it was because of the two of you.’

‘I don’t understand it.’, Rey admitted. ‘When I met him, he tortured me.’

‘A lot of things happened after that, I’m sure. And, honestly Rey… Love usually doesn’t come with an explanation. It just happens.’

‘So you think it was real?’

Poe blinked at that. ‘You know, I feel your feelings too, sometimes. Because I felt your pain, yeah, it was real. You love him. And there’s no doubt in my mind he loved you back. He would have been an idiot not to.’

'Do you think less of me? Because I-'

'No.', Poe said quickly, strongly. 'In the end, you and Leia, you were right, there was still light in him. And, honestly? I'm glad you two fell in love.'

Her jaw dropped at that.

'Because of that love, he saved you.', Poe explained. 'I'm really happy that happened.’

Rey breathed out, slowly and controlled. 'This isn't the conversation I wanted to have.'

He let her change the subject.

'Right, so. Rey Skywalker's School for Force Kids?'

She smiled. 'It won't be just for kids.'

'Rey Skywalker's School of the Force?'

'Does it have to have my name?', she scrunched up her nose.

Poe tilted his head. 'The Skywalker School of Force. The SSF.'

'Oh.', she said gently. 'I think I like that.'

Poe grinned. 'Do you want me to come with you to the meeting tomorrow? Is that what this was about?'

'Would you?'

'Of course. I have your back.'

She took a deep breath. 'What about after tomorrow?'

He frowned at that.

‘Did you think about what you want to do now, that the war is over?’, Rey asked gently.

The truth was, Poe had thought about it, albeit briefly. Everything was still too raw, in his head and his heart. He had no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He had no idea what he  _ could _ do. War was what he did best. Well, he did it really bad, at times, but he had done it for a long while. So long and so hard that he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

He just knew he wanted to be close to his Dad.

That was yesterday.

Today, he wanted to help Rey at the school.

Actually, he wanted to be in Rey’s orbit, in her life. If that meant being at the school, he could do it. Could he?

It’ll give his life a purpose, teaching those kids. He didn’t have one of those, anymore, with the war over. But he needed one, and this, it was a good one.

‘We need a pilot.’, Rey smiled. ‘Actually, we’re going to need a teacher, to teach them how to pilot. Strategy, too, Finn’s going to need help with that.’

Poe opened his mouth, but she didn’t let him speak.

‘I know you hated the Academy, didn’t like learning. But-’

‘I know now that I had to do it.’, Poe tilted his head. ‘I was an idiot, all through school and most of the Resistance. Leia taught me better.’

‘You could pass on her teachings.’

Poe breathed in and out, slowly. ‘Me? A teacher? That sounds absolutely ridiculous.’

‘It doesn’t.’, Rey said with certainty. ‘The Black Squadron, you taught them a lot. And there is a reason why Leia picked you.’

He shook his head, not really believing her.

‘The only question is’, she looked into his eyes, ‘if you’ll be able to… settle down.’

‘Settle… what down?’

‘Finn told me something. He thinks that maybe you’ll get bored.’

It took a moment, but Poe snorted. ‘I see your point, but Rey, neither you nor Finn have ever been in a proper school. Teachers don’t have time to get bored with all the crazy students running around and getting into trouble.’

‘So that means you’ll do it?’, Rey was teasing.

‘For you? Yeah. Dad’s getting old, I wanna stay close to him.’

‘That’s not really a good enough reason.’

Rey didn’t glare at him, but it was close enough.

‘I’ll do it because I like kids’, Poe smiled, ‘because I like flying and strategy, and because I have, actually, quite a lot of ideas on how to do better than my teachers did.’

He winked. ‘Also because you and Finn are gonna need all the help you can get.’

‘Poe.’, Rey breathed out. ‘You’re awful sometimes.’

He just grinned at her, obnoxiously so. And when Rey laughed and threw herself in his arms, Poe laughed too. He hugged her tightly and didn’t stop himself from falling back against the grass, bringing Rey along with him.

⟩⟨

She was nervous the next day.

Sure, her hair was perfectly tied back, and she had clearly put more thoughts into her outfit than she did most days, but Poe could feel her anxiousness. Hell, he could see it, clearly, in the way she kept fidgeting with everything she got her hands on.

The meeting was scheduled in the second part of the day, on the other side of the planet. It was a short flight in the Falcon, but after breakfast, Poe seriously doubted Rey was going to make it.

So he suggested to Rey that she and BB-8 could do some research. The droid had a pretty extensive database, maybe something on there could help Rey.

So the two set up camp at the kitchen table.

The rest of the day went by a lot more calmly, because Rey didn't raise her voice when she asked questions, and BB-8's beeps were pretty much music to Poe's ears.

When it was time to go, Rey packed a bottle of caf, one notebook (that looked brand new), her lightsaber and a spare hair tie.

Kes sat down in the common area, letting them alone in the cockpit.

Rey let Poe fly. He thought it was because he knew where they were going, but once they were up, she pulled out her notebook and started looking over her notes.

They were neatly written, but they were in an assortment of languages.

'Hey.', Poe said gently. 'You're going to do fine.'

'I need to do more than fine.'

'No, you don't. You need to do the very best you can, and that's it.'

She looked to him, kind of desperately. 'I  _ need _ this to happen, Poe.'

He reached for her hand, glad when she immediately held tightly onto his fingers.

'I know you do. And I'm sure you're going to tell them everything they need to know. There’s no doubt in my mind you’ll convince them.’

‘And if I don’t?’

Poe acted like it was the first time he thought about it.

‘If you don’t, then you either think about building a swimming pool in your brand new garden, or about how you're going to convince the nuns on Ahch-To to build the school there.'

Rey blinked at him. 'Will there ever come a time when you say something is not possible?'

'No.', Poe laughed. 'I'm always going to try, and so will you.'

'You make it sound so easy!', she whined, sounding like a toddler.

Poe laughed again, kissed her knuckles before letting go of her hand. As he started the landing sequence, he spoke strongly.

'It ain't gonna be easy, it's going to be kriffing difficult. But you know that, and you're prepared for it. You're also stubborn, which in this case, is a good thing. It means you're going to keep going. Plus, you have your heart set on this, I know you do. You won't stop until what needs to get done, gets done.'

'Plus', he smirked, 'you're not alone anymore, Rey. You don't  _ have  _ to do anything alone. Finn and I will help, so will Dad. You also have the Galactic Council backing you up. With all that, you can do this.'

He looked to her, grinning. The way Rey was looking at him, somewhat incredulous but mostly unbelieving, it made him think a little about what was happening.

When he understood it, he softened immediately.

'You're not alone, Rey. You couldn't get rid of us even if you tried.'

She sniffed, once. 'I could easily get rid of you.'

Poe laughed, because it was true. She could kick their asses without breaking a sweat.

'But you won't do that.', he said, completely certain of it.

'I won't', she agreed in a mumble.

Poe snorted. 'Okay, glad we figured that out. Let's do this.'

With that, he landed the Falcon in the largest city on Yavin-4, as close to the City Hall as he could.

⟩⟨

Rey was incredible.

She was shy and visibly anxious about speaking to a room filled to the brim with people, but she spoke strongly and confidently.

She gave them a lot of information about a lot of things. It was more than what she had told Poe, and her speech was very well organized.

At the end of it, Poe didn't think there was any question unanswered. He was wrong.

'What about our safety?', someone asked.

'Like I said', Rey spoke calmly, 'I want to do this in order to prevent another dark lord from rising from the Force. To prevent another Darth Vader, Kylo Ren or Palpatine.'

'That's not what he meant.', Kes said. 'If you gather a lot of Jedi in a single place, the enemies of the Jedi will target Yavin-4.'

Rey spluttered at that. 'They don't know?', she asked Kes, incredulously.

When he frowned, clearly not understanding what she was referring to, she turned to Poe.

He had a slight idea. 'It's about the tree, isn't it? It's protecting us.'

'Yes!' Rey said with surprising strength. 'It's… Of course it's protecting you! It's been protecting you since the moment the seed was planted!'

She took a deep breath and centered herself, speaking calmly afterwards.

'I know it's hard for you to understand, because you can't feel it and you have to take my word for it. But the Force tree planted in Kes' garden is very powerful. To people like me, who can use the Force, it's a source of extra power, if needed, but on a day to day basis, it's… it centers us. Makes us calm and focused.'

'So we'll be safe because you're stronger around the tree?', another someone asked.

'No.', Rey breathed out. 'You'll be safe because the tree provides a shield against whoever wishes to harm Yavin-4. Why do you think the First Order didn't attack this planet?'

'What?', it was Poe that asked.

She looked at him like he was an idiot. 'Once, you were the best pilot in the Resistance. Then, you were it's general. The First Order would have gained a lot from the destruction of your planet. But they never did it, and it wasn't from the goodness of Hux's heart.'

Rey was right, Poe realized. More people realized it, too, considering the whispers that started in the room.

'Any more questions?', Kes asked loudly.

Nobody said anything.

'Poe, anything you'd like to add?'

He took a deep breath. 'Everyone, please think this through. Don't dismiss it because of old history. Rey is… something new. And we plan for this school to fix the mistakes of the past.'

'So you're staying, Poe?', an older woman asked.

He couldn't remember her name, but he remembered that she used to give him pika cakes when he was little.

'I'm staying with Rey.', he told her. 'And I really want that to mean I'll get to stay home.'

Nobody said anything, so Kes kicked them out, so that the Planetary Council could discuss it.

⟩⟨

Outside, in the hallway, Rey was a mess. She was shaking, on the verge of crying, so anxious Poe felt it in  _ his _ bones.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

‘Where are you taking me?’, she fought against his hold, but it lacked strength.

‘Somewhere quiet, where you’ll be able to block out all the emotions coming from that room.’

Rey didn’t fight him anymore, she wordlessly followed him.

Poe took her to the roof. It wasn’t incredibly high, just five stories, but it did give a view of the city. It was, technically, off limits, but Poe found a secret way up, back when he was 12 and his Dad made him come along to his boring meetings.

As soon as they were outside, Rey closed her eyes and breathed in deeply a few times. She didn’t let go of Poe’s hand, which he couldn’t help but notice and feel good about.

‘You were amazing.’, he said gently after her breathing evened out and she looked to him. 

Rey rolled her eyes.

‘No, really, you did great.’, Poe insisted. ‘You spoke better than most of them can, and you didn’t just speak to their logic or their position on the council, but to their heart, too.’

‘Was it enough?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. But you did your best.’

‘If they don’t agree, if I … find another place to build the school. Poe, you don’t have to come with me.’

‘I know.’, Poe smiled at her. ‘I’ll still do it, though.’

Rey took another shaky breath and she didn’t hug him, but she did press their sides together, leaning her head on his shoulder. She also didn’t let go of his hand, which was nice. Very nice.

It gave him the type of hope he was trying his hardest to ignore.

⟩⟨

Long after the sun had set, and after Rey and Poe lied down on the roof and watched the stars, Kes found them.

Rey all but jumped out of her skin when she felt him getting close. 

‘Calm down, sweetheart.’, the older man chuckled.

‘What happened?’, Rey got up, all but ran to his side. ‘What did they say, what-’

‘Rey.’, Kes cut her off. ‘They agreed to it, but there are terms.’

‘What terms?’, Poe asked, as serious as a war meeting.

‘They don’t want to get involved at all. You don’t talk to them, you don’t ask for advice, for help, nothing.’

‘What does that mean?’, Rey was frowning deeply.

‘They don’t care if you employ people from their villages, if you buy the things they make. But you or your school will never ask for anything, for free, in an official manner. Be it help in a war, or more grains come draught time.’

‘I understand.’, Rey nodded seriously. ‘That’s alright, I can-’, she gasped. ‘I can build the school?’

Her eyes were wide and her mouth was slack and opened.

‘You can build the school’, Kes said gently.

Rey turned to Poe. ‘I…’

‘We can build the school.’, he grinned. ‘ _ WE  _ can build the school.’

She jumped on him. Rey hugged Poe tightly, making him stumble a step back with the force of it. Of course, he didn’t hesitate in hugging her back. She was shaking in his arms, crying, most likely, and Poe held her as tightly as he could, grounding her.

Over her shoulder, Poe could see his father.

The older man was smiling softly at them, knowingly.

Too knowingly. It made Poe blush like he was 16 again and bringing a girl home for the first time.

He was an idiot, no doubt about it. But Rey was still hugging him, and she was calming down, anxiousness being replaced with happiness in the Force.

So he stuck his tongue out at his Dad, and instead of watching his reaction, Poe pushed his face into Rey’s shoulder.

⟩⟨

Just before they went inside the house to give Finn the good news, Poe voiced a question that had been bugging him all day.

‘Why didn’t you bring Finn today?’

Rey looked at him with big eyes. ‘I don’t have an answer for that, yet.’, she whispered. ‘But I’ll tell you, someday.’

There it was, again. That hope Poe was trying to ignore.

⟩⟨

They spent the next day in the garden, at the tree, making plans. Granted, most of them were ridiculous, but at the end of the day, Rey did have another page or two filled in her notebook. 

Rey was the first one to go to sleep, but Finn was in the mood to talk.

He didn't beat around the bush.

'Are you ever going to make a move?'

'No?', Poe said after a few long moments. 'I can't.'

'Why not?', Finn glared at him.

'Because she's still in love with Solo.'

'He's dead.'

Poe winced. 'Yes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him anymore. Once you love something, it stays loved. She'll always love him and-'

'You have a problem with that?', Finn frowned.

'No, but… it's going to take longer for her to be ready to accept someone else.'

That shut Finn up.

'Plus', Poe went on, 'I'm not...I know what people say about me. That I'm a skirt chaser, always in someone else's bed-'

'Yup, they all said that. And worse.'

Poe sighed. 'I wasn't always like that, you know. During the war, there just wasn't the possibility of more.'

'And it would be more, with Rey.'

There was a question there, in Finn's words. That was what finally got to Poe. He took a breath and let it out shakily.

'How can you even ask me that? Aren't you supposed to be Force sensitive?'

Finn snorted. 'Oh, I know the answer. You're projecting it every time she's in the room.'

Poe winced, badly.

'Yeah, buddy.', Finn grinned. 'She definitely knows.'

'And that's another reason why I'm not gonna say anything.'

'Isn't that… cowardly?'

Poe shrugged. 'She doesn't need me and my stupid feelings on her plate right now. Rey will come to me, if she ever decides that… something.’

Finn snorted. 'Something?'

'I don't know, man.'

'Probably kissing.'

'Shut up.', Poe grumbled.

It made Finn laugh and he, mercifully, dropped the subject.

But when Poe went to bed, of course he couldn't think about anything other than kissing Rey.

⟩⟨

Da’mar came over the next morning. She was wearing shorts and sandals, a colorful bag over her shoulder. She looked like she was going on vacation.

‘At least you’re wearing pants this time, Dameron.’, was the only thing she told him.

Because Rey took Da’mar out in the garden, next to the tree.

Poe tried to join them, once. He wasn’t allowed to get a word in, no matter how much he tried. Finn tried next, came back even faster.

Kes went to them. Came back immediately after, with Rey in toe. They took the kitchen table and three chairs, moved them under the tree.

And they did not move for the rest of the day. Poe and Finn took turns, getting them food and drinks. 

Da’mar left late at night, but she came back the next morning. And the day after that, and the day after that.

It was kind of ridiculous, and Finn and Poe were only a little jealous.

Finn got the privilege of joining them once, just for a little while, telling Poe, afterwards, with tears in his eyes, that he was going to buy a house in one of the villages nearby. Rey was going to build hers, close to the school, but Finn didn't want that, in case he couldn't handle being a teacher.

He asked Poe for help, to join him in looking at places. Apparently, Da'mar gave him a list. Poe, of course, promised he'll help.

On the day Da'mar stopped interrupting breakfast, Rey announced that the next day, she was going to take the Falcon into the city, to meet with an architect.

Poe… breathed in slowly. This was actually happening.

He was excited, he had to admit. Apprehensive, on how long it will take to finish the school, on what he'll do after.

But he was beyond happy for Rey. He could feel her happiness, through the Force, her excitement for what was to come, and it was… pure.

It was lovely. She was lovely.

Poe felt like he was going to taint her, with his love.

He also felt like there was no way he was going to fall out of love for her.

⟩⟨

The workers started arriving a few days later, and there was no more downtime, from then on.

Besides a quick breakfast and a couple hours of sleep, Rey wasn’t at the house anymore.

At first, Poe and Finn both tried to join her at the site. But it became painfully clear that they weren’t needed. There were over 50 people working on building the school. They had barracks where they slept, people in the closest town were contracted to bring them food. There was a giant man, that was the head of site, taking care that everything was going as planned.

Rey was there, in the midst of it all, doing everything that she could, from lifting rocks with the Force, to healing minor scrapes the workers got, getting them caf and speaking with them, explaining to them what they were working on building.

He was on a first name basis with the head of site, joking around but working together easily.

Poe was… useless, and it was a massive blow to his ego.

After a few weeks, he went with Finn into town. The other man bought a house, and the next day they spoke with a carpenter to make him furniture, and the next day they got linens and plates and pots and whatever else. After a few more days, Finn moved into his new home.

Poe felt lonely.

⟩⟨

He was in a bad place, and he knew it.

It probably wasn’t  _ just  _ Rey and Finn not being constantly by his side anymore, but also the horrors of war catching up with Poe.

He slept a lot, having nightmares every time, waking up in a sweaty mess with his heart racing.

He drank a lot, especially after his dad went to sleep, thinking it will help him sleep. It never did.

Once, in the middle of the night, he left and made his way to the closest tavern, which was his usual picking up spot. For a moment, he thought that getting laid with a faceless woman was going to help him. 

And then, half way through the walk, he straight up hallucinated, saw Rey looking with disappointment at him. The way his heart hurt, in that moment, the way he longed for her, the power of it, it made Poe turn around and all but run back home, where he went to sleep alone, trying not to cry.

⟩⟨

It went on for three months.

They all had dinner once a week, Poe and Kes, Rey and Finn, but that was the only time Poe saw his friends.

Rey still lived in the house, but she slept late at night and left early in the morning.

His dad tried to help, but he knew perfectly well there wasn’t much he could do to help Poe.

And then, one night, he woke up with a panic like never before. Throughout the war, he had never felt the amount of impending doom he felt right then.

For a moment, Poe actually thought he was having a heart attack. But then, he realized the panic he felt wasn’t  _ his _ . He was running out the door before he consciously realized it.

Poe barged into Rey’s room, not surprised to see her trashing on the bed. She was asleep, trapped in her sheets, sweating and moaning. There were things in the room that were levitating, a chair, clothes, books. 

Clearly, she was having the mother of all nightmares.

Poe tried calling her name, with no success. If anything, more things started shaking around the room.

So he dodged them and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her without actually hurting her, calling her name over and over again.

Rey woke up with a scream. It took a few moments before she realized what was happening and recognized that it was Poe, not a threat.

When she did, she started sobbing, her entire body relaxing as she pushed her face into the crook of Poe’s neck. He held her, of course, let her cry, gathered her in his arms and tried his best to calm her down.

His dad came in, having heard her scream. There was pain in Kes’ eyes, alongside understanding, but he didn’t say anything. He just nodded and left, closing the door behind himself, but not before letting BB-8 in. The droid started projecting old holo footage, making a little blue light in the room. Thankfully, it stayed quiet.

Absently, Poe was aware that there were tears running down his face and that he wasn’t wearing pants when he went to sleep.

It didn’t matter, because Rey was shaking in his hold, and the panic he had felt was now completely replaced with sadness.

Poe’s brain was working well enough to figure out who she was dreaming about. There wasn’t anything that he could say to soothe her pain, so he just held her.

For a long time, Rey cried in his arms, and he felt absolutely useless.

Her sobbing was reduced to tears and eventually, to sniffles. The shaking stopped, her sadness wasn’t choking Poe anymore, and Rey calmed down. Not entirely, but enough for her to brokenly say something.

‘Poe, remind me of something good.’

He remembered a conversation they had what felt like ages ago, and he snorted, despite himself. Still, a memory easily came to him.

‘Remember that time when I wanted to do those mods on Black Leader? And you kept saying they were ridiculous, dangerous and useless?’

‘They were.’, Rey sniffed, leaning back a little so she could look at him.

Poe didn’t manage to take his hands off her, not completely, but he did ease up on his hold on her.

‘Something good was when BB-8 agreed with you.’, Poe went on, smiling as he remembered Rey and the droid yelling at him. ‘And the two of you ganged up on me.’

She was still crying, but Rey smiled, a little. ‘We were just looking out for you.’

‘Yeah, I know.’, Poe chuckled. ‘But you were screaming bloody murder, with BB singing your tune, hands on your hips, glaring at me like-’, he cut himself off.

‘Like what?’, she frowned.

‘Like my mom glared at me when I stole cookies before dinner. Or how dad glared at me when I was a dumb kid and stole his alcohol.’

It took a moment, but she scrunched up her nose. ‘Don’t compare me to your parents.’

For some reason, that made Poe laugh, a full on loud laugh. When he managed to stop, Rey was looking at him in wonder.

Gently, she touched his cheek, making Poe instantly turn very serious.

‘Why are you crying?’, she whispered.

Poe put his hand over hers, pressing them to his cheek. ‘I feel your pain.’

She opened her mouth, but he didn’t let her talk.

‘Don’t you dare apologize. There’s not a lot I can do to help you, but waking you up and holding you…’ He took a deep breath. ‘That, I can do.’

Rey’s bottom lip trembled.

‘It’s okay.’, Poe said gently, turning his head to kiss her palm. 

He took his hand away, but she didn’t. Rey pressed her palm back to his cheek. It was even gentler than before, and just as gently, she did the same to the other cheek.

Rey’s eyes were still wet, but they were moving fast, up and down all over his face. Poe held his breath.

When Rey’s eyes finally stopped moving, they stopped on his lips. Poe remembered how to breathe again, and it was good that he did, because she kissed him.

Gently and with the tiniest bit of pressure, she pressed her lips to his and for a moment, Poe was in heaven. But then he felt the tears still streaming down her cheeks and he felt her chin trembling and Poe came back to reality.

With great difficulty, he pushed Rey away. She was clearly surprised by it, and hurt. Evidently hurt.

She moved to get away, but Poe didn’t let her. He held onto her and kept her there.

‘Don’t think I don’t want this.’, he said quickly, desperately. ‘I do, but you don’t.’

Rey frowned at that, but she didn’t say anything. And she stopped fighting back, too, giving Poe the strength to move on.

‘You don’t want me, not like this. And right now, you definitely don’t need this.’

‘I…’

‘Rey.’, Poe smiled, despite the pain he was feeling. ‘You don’t need this.’

‘Then what do I need?’, she asked, kind of desperately, looking at him like he had all the answers.

‘I don’t know, but I’ll give it to you. Anything.’

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. ‘But not this.’

Poe swallowed thickly. ‘Not now.’

Rey opened her eyes, and there was understanding in them. But she also looked absolutely exhausted. Not the type of exhaustion that came from a night or two of bad sleep, but the type of emotional exhaustion that came from heartache and pain.

‘Do you want me to leave?’, Poe asked gently.

She sniffed, wiped her face with the sleeve or her shirt. ‘What’s the other option?’

The way she said it, Rey wasn’t waiting for an answer, but Poe had one anyway.

‘I can stay until you fall asleep.’

It took a few moments of Rey just breathing shakily, but she nodded, so Poe got off the bed. She laid down on her side, wrestled with the blanket until she had it where she wanted it.

Poe sat down on the floor in front of the bed, making the conscious effort to not be right in front of her face, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. Still, she looked at him, and she made sure to have a hand outside of the blanket, clearly an invitation.

Smiling, he took her hand, intertwined their fingers.

‘You’re going to be okay, Rey.’, he said gently. ‘It’ll take awhile, and you’re going to need help, but you’re going to be okay.’

‘What about you?’, she mumbled.

‘I’m gonna be okay, too. Eventually.’

Rey closed her eyes, squeezed his fingers. ‘I’m so tired.’

His heart broke again, right then. ‘Then sleep, Rey.’, he whispered. ‘Go to sleep, I’ve got you.’

Nothing else was said that night. Poe waited until her breathing evened out, then he waited some more, until he gently detached his hand from her hold and made as little noise as possible as he made his way out of the room.

But Poe didn’t go to bed. He got a blanket and made some caf, spent the rest of the night on the porch. He thought about a billion and a half things, all of them in relation to Rey.

His brain was a mess, his heart was in shambles, he felt hope and desperation, and terror at the thought of ever hurting Rey.

He knew he was in love with her. He knew that no matter what will happen, that love won’t ever go away. Even if she ignored what happened that night and never mentioned it again, even if he’d never get anything more than a handshake and a smile, Poe will always love Rey, and he will always be in love with Rey.

There was no going back from it. Even if there was heartache, disappointment and loneliness in Poe’s future, he couldn’t go back to not being in love with Rey.

He didn’t think he wanted to, either.

⟩⟨

In the morning, Rey brought him a cup of hot caf. She sat next to him and Poe was shocked by how well she looked.

She looked like a totally different person than she did a few hours ago, with a spark in her eyes and color in her cheeks. Rey was wearing… what looked like Poe’s very old clothes, from when he was a teenager.

‘Shower.’, she told him. ‘Get dressed in old clothes. You’re coming with me today.’

‘I am?’

Slowly, Rey smiled. ‘My house is ready. I need help painting it.’

It took a moment for Poe to process it, but after he did, he all but ran to his room. It made Rey laugh.

⟩⟨

Three months had passed since the work on the school started.

Three months ago, Poe knew that the space was empty, flat. A few trees in the distance and a lot of weeds everywhere.

Now… Now, Poe didn’t recognize it.

There were several buildings already up, and several more were being built.

As they walked through, as people were working left and right, Rey kept a running commentary, explaining everything and pointing when she needed to.

The kitchen and mess hall was already up, and the equipment and furniture was already on the way. The training hall still needed a roof and the beds for the hospital were delayed. The hanger was almost done, but they were putting off buying the birds until they figured out how many students they’ll have.

The actual school, where the theory classes will be held, was still waiting for furniture and computers, and Rey had yet to decide where she wanted her office to be and how to decorate it.

The building that will hold the sleeping quarters and relaxing spaces had the most work that needed to be done, it was only now starting to rise above the ground. And, as Rey informed Poe, it was the largest one, too, so it will take longer.

Past all these, they went, and Rey’s excitement kept growing with every step she took and every word she spoke.

Meanwhile, Poe was incapable of saying anything. He was shocked by how much work had been done in three months, and he was disappointed, in himself, for not taking any part of it.

‘I didn’t pay for anything, yet.’, Rey was saying, and that caught Poe’s attention.

‘Really?’

‘Yes. I paid for my house, but that’s it. Everything else, Da’mar paid for it.’

Poe frowned. ‘Da’mar, or the Council?’

‘The Council, but I’m certain she convinced them. And she told me that after all is done, the school will receive a monthly donation, but it won’t be enough if the school will be full.’

‘We’ll think of something.’, Poe was quick to say.

Rey smiled at him. ‘I know we will. But right now, you need to think about other things.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like how you’re going to help me paint my house.’

Rey grinned at him, and Poe was left staring at her for a few moments. Only when she turned her head around, did he realize that they were pretty far away from the school.

When Poe saw what Rey was looking at, his brain and heart went haywire.

There was a house, alright. It had two stories and it was surprisingly large, with a porch that went all around it and a larden garden to the side.

Rey didn’t move to go inside, but she started talking. The lower floor had a kitchen, a living room and a small office, for when she wouldn’t want to work at the school. The upper floor had five bedrooms.

Five bedrooms.

Poe couldn’t get over that fact.

Because that meant… That meant that she didn’t build the house just for  _ her _ . It meant that she wanted a family.

Rey gently called his name, which made him snap out of it.

‘You don’t like it?’

‘It’s a lot.’, he said, quickly. ‘I mean, it’s, it’s a big house.’

She looked at him for a while, with a very particular look, making him feel like he was the biggest idiot on the planet.

‘Poe’, Rey spoke slowly, ‘I don’t plan on spending the rest of my life alone.’

Then she blushed furiously and looked away from him, but she kept on speaking. ‘I want to fall in love again, get married. Raise children in this house. Maybe a dog.’

Poe snorted, despite himself. ‘ _ Maybe _ a dog, but surely some kids.’

Her head snapped to his and she glared. ‘Is that a problem?’

‘No. Not at all.’

He wanted to marry her, raise children together, and have a dog or two. He’d even accept a cat. He just didn’t know if she wanted that with him. But after last night, he thought it best not to ask.

‘So.’, he shook all thoughts away from his brain. ‘We’re painting?’

Rey grinned. ‘Yeah, we’re painting.’

⟩⟨

For the next week, they painted the whole house, inside and out. They spent all day together, in different corners of the same empty room. Sometimes, they talked for hours. Other times, BB-8 would play holo films that they didn’t really watch, but they listened to.

Once, Poe asked if Finn was ever going to help them. Rey’s reaction was to blush and say that they didn’t need his help. It was a weird moment, and a weird answer, and it made Poe think that maybe she wanted to spend some time alone with him.

That gave him hope, and it was a very dangerous thing, right then, so Poe ignored it.

⟩⟨

The next three weeks were spent around the galaxy, using the Falcon to get to different furniture shops. Poe had no idea how she found them all, but Rey always knew where to go and what to buy.

She always asked for his opinion and every single shop keeper assumed they were a couple. Neither one of them ever told them otherwise.

⟩⟨

At their weekly dinner, both Finn and Kes were throwing him looks.

Poe understood them perfectly, they were waiting on him to do something, say something to Rey.

Thankfully, Rey was oblivious.

Or so he thought.

⟩⟨

It took a few more weeks for Rey’s house to be done.

Poe helped her along the way, putting furniture together, moving it around. Washing carpets and going shopping with her, for plates, bedding, towels, flowers. Everything and anything, so many things, he couldn’t keep up.

Honestly, he felt a lot better, and it wasn’t just because he spent so much time alone with Rey. The fact that he had something to do helped a lot.

Each night, he went to bed thinking, fearing that it was going to be a bad one, filled with horrors and nightmares. But right before he fell asleep, he thought about how he had plans with Rey in the morning, about what shop they were going to or about whatever work she will make him do around her house.

That helped, too. It helped immensely, it kept the nightmares at bay.

It made Poe start thinking, actually start thinking about being a teacher. It will give him something to do, constantly. Sure, it was going to be a lot of work, he was aware of that. The kids will surely drive him crazy, and he’s going to have a hard time with the actual teaching part.

But he thought he could do it. Kriff, he wanted to do it.

Each day, as he passed by the school, he started actually seeing himself as a teacher. In front of a board, drawing flying patterns. In the hangar, yelling at kids to do their pre-flight checks. In an office, talking to other teachers about kids that are slightly more problematic.

Poe grew excited, eager to do it. He found himself thinking about how he would teach certain lessons, to the point where he stole one of Rey’s notebooks and started writing things down.

Kes read him like an open book. He told Poe, one night, that maybe being a teacher wasn’t in his life plan, but it will fit him like a glove. Kes was sure of it, Poe not so much. But his dad’s words, they helped him. They got him even more excited.

There were months to go until the school opened, Poe was well aware of it. Once the actual buildings were done, Rey was going to travel the galaxy in search of Force sensitive people who would be willing to learn about their powers.

Everytime someone asked, Rey would just smile and say that she had it covered. It was a secret that she was keeping, and it frustrated Poe, sure, but he was aware that it was not any of his business. Plus, he had a feeling it had something to do with the tree, which he trusted without asking any further questions.

So Poe, surprisingly so, was doing okay. Of course, that’s when it all went wrong, with a bang.

⟩⟨

One morning, Rey said that they weren’t going to go shopping, or to the house, or anywhere. Not yet, anyway. Instead, she asked Poe to help her pack, because she had gathered a surprising amount of stuff in her guest room. 

It was time that she moved out of Kes’ house, and into her home.

Honestly, Poe handled it pretty well. Sure, on the inside his heart was breaking and he was terrified of Rey not having time to spend with him anymore, but on the outside he was calm and very helpful.

They made it to the house just as the sun was setting, and that’s when it all went to kriff.

‘I can handle it from here.’, Rey smiled at him, once all the boxes and bags were set into the living room.

‘I should go, then.’, he managed to smile back. He even managed to take a step towards the door.

Rey took a deep breath, and gently asked him not to do that.

‘Do you like the house?’

She was looking at him very expectedly. If Poe were a smarter man when it came to her, he probably would have thought twice before he answered. But he didn’t do that.

‘Of course I do. I think it fits you very well.’

Rey frowned. ‘But do  _ you  _ like it?’

‘Yeah. I mean, yeah, sure?’

Still frowning, Rey stepped forward, looking intently into his eyes.

‘Do you like it enough to move into it some day?’

Poe was in the process of leaning against a desk as she said the words, and he missed. The desk. He fell to the floor with a loud yelp, groaning afterwards. He stayed there, layed there with his eyes closed, trying to process Rey’s words.

She called his name, probably kneeled next to him, because Poe felt her hands roaming over his body, settling on his chest.

It impaired his ability to process her words.

‘Poe?’, she asked again, worriedly.

‘I’m fine.’

There was a pause. ‘Then why don’t you get up?’

‘I’m fine.’, he said again. ‘I’m fine here, I’m going to stay here.’

Rey sighed, and he heard her move. He guessed she sat down on the floor, next to him. One of her hands remained on his chest.

‘I’m sorry if I scared you.’, she gently said. ‘I just thought… that’s what I understood.’

‘Understood?’, Poe finally opened his eyes.

She was sitting next to him, legs crossed, watching him hesitantly. She took her hand away from his chest, and Poe ignored the loss he felt.

‘I thought you wanted this.’, she bit on her lower lip and looked away. ‘Wanted me.’

When he didn’t manage to say anything, Rey looked to him again.

‘Not… right now. I wasn’t asking you to move in today. I was just asking if maybe, one day, if all goes well, you see yourself living here, with me.’

‘With you.’, Poe breathed out. ‘And kids. Maybe a dog.’

Rey smiled at that, chuckling weakly. ‘Our kids. Our dog.’

It took a moment or 27 for Poe to be able to respond to that, to come up with what he wanted and needed to say. Rey waited patiently.

‘Look…’, Poe started, but he stopped. He got up, mimicked Rey’s position, crossed his legs and sat in front of her. He leaned back against the desk, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible, even if it felt like he was sitting on needles.

‘You didn’t understand it wrong.’, he started slowly. ‘I do care about you, and I would like to be with you. But I don’t want you to think that just because I want it, it has to happen.’

Rey narrowed her eyes. ‘I know that. It has to be my decision, too.’

‘You have to want it too, and I don’t think you do.’

Her first reaction was to glare at Poe, but it quickly went away. Rey sighed, deeply, her shoulders slumping and eyes moving to the side.

‘A part of me will always love Ben, and I need you to understand that.’

‘Of course I do, that’s not-’

‘But!’, she cut him off with a little more strength. ‘That doesn’t mean that I’m not capable of falling in love with you.’

‘I know you’re capable, Rey. What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to.’

‘Why are you always so difficult?’, she groaned, rubbing at her eyes. ‘I’m already falling in love with you, you idiot man!’

Yeah, there was no way Poe was going to have any answer to that.

‘But I’m… I’m going to need your help.’, Rey went on, all anger replaced with shyness. ‘I don’t know how to be with someone like this. I’ve never…’ She took a deep breath, clearly gearing up. ‘I’ve never even  _ seen  _ what a normal relationship looks like. You’re going to have to guide me, and tell me when I screw up, and explain to me how and-’

‘Rey’, he cut her off, ‘that’s not a problem. That’s never going to be a problem, I promise you. I… I get it, I understand it.’

‘Then it’s about Ben.’, she finally looked at him.

Poe shook his head. ‘Not in the way you think. I know you’re always going to love him, and I understand that. But I’m… I’m afraid that maybe it’s too soon.’

‘Oh.’, Rey breathed out, a look of surprise appearing on her face.

She looked adorable and Poe couldn’t help but smile. ‘Didn’t think of that, did you?’

‘I did’, Rey frowned, ‘but about me. I didn’t think it would be a problem for you.’

Poe groaned, closing his eyes and hitting his head on the desk behind him. ‘This is complicated.’

‘I’m sorry.’

She had said it in a very soft voice, very remorseful. It didn’t sit well with Poe so, without opening his eyes, he grabbed Rey’s hand. Still without opening his eyes, he did his best to explain to her, all the thoughts that had jumbled in his brain in the past months.

‘I don’t want to screw this up. You and me, I want it to happen and I want it to last, a long, long time. I’m afraid that we’re going to start something, and you’re going to realize that you weren’t ready for it. And once we break it, it’s going to stay broken.’

As he took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he wanted to say next, Rey squeezed his hand.

‘Do you trust me?’

That got Poe to open his eyes. Rey didn’t look hesitant anymore, not really. She was watching him in a very soft way.

‘Of course I trust you, with my life, but-’

‘Then trust that I know myself.’, she said gently. ‘That I know what I want and that I know when I’m ready for something.’

When she put it like that, Poe really couldn’t argue against it anymore.

‘Then there’s only one problem left.’, he smiled at Rey. ‘I’m terrified that I won’t be able to keep it together. That I’ll screw up, that I’ve forgotten what a normal relationship means and that I’ll make you realize that I’m not… good for you.’

Slowly, Rey smiled. ‘You know, all the people I’ve spoken to about this told me that’s going to be your main concern.’

Poe asked, mildly alarmed, how many people she had talked to about this, but he was completely ignored.

‘The thing is, I know you.’, Rey kept on smiling. ‘I don’t want this just because you’re Force sensitive and we’re connected. Or just because we’ve spent so much time together recently. Or because you took Finn and I home, and gave us a home.’

She took a deep breath and strengthened her back, eyes locking with Poe. ‘I want to be with you because you’re  _ you. _ And I like you.’

It was extremely difficult for Poe to play tough and not fall at her feet.

‘In 20, 30, 50 years’, Rey chuckled, ‘you’re going to ask me to tell you something good, and I’m going to tell you about the day I moved into our home. And the ridiculous, embarrassing conversation we had on the living room floor.’

It was impossible for Poe to not fall at her feet. He wanted to keep arguing against being together, still believing he won’t be good enough for her, but Rey had fair points. He couldn’t argue anymore.

Plus, he wanted it. He wanted it badly and desperately.

She probably knew that, because with a big grin, Rey got off the floor and ordered him to do the same.

‘Why?’, Poe asked.

Of course, she huffed, rolling her eyes. ‘Will you always be so kriffing difficult?’

‘Probably.’, he nodded.

‘Poe!’, Rey yelled. ‘Get up and kiss me already!’

He froze for a moment, but only for a moment. Before she got to say his name again, Poe was off the floor and had Rey wrapped tightly in his arms.

He didn’t kiss her, though. Poe stopped and looked into her eyes, taking a deep breath and trying his very best to get over all the hesitations and negative thoughts he still had.

Rey put both of her hands on his chest.

‘Trust me, please.’, she whispered. ‘And kiss me, I need you to be the one to kiss me.’

Poe didn’t ask, he figured out what that meant on his own. And he really didn’t want to think about Ben Solo, at that moment.

So he shook his head and pushed all thoughts away from his brain and focused on Rey, just on her.

How good she felt in his arms, how warm she was, how she was smiling softly.

The shape her lips took when she whispered his name.

That was the last drop and Poe lost it. He kissed Rey, with a lot more strength than he originally intended. She stumbled back a step, grabbing a hold of Poe’s shirt to keep herself upright. She also made a sound of surprise which was utterly adorable.

All of that happened in the span of a breath.

At the next breath, Rey came to life. She kissed him back, just as hard as Poe did. They were desperate, their mouths opened and they were breathing harsh, there were hands grabbing instead of caressing. Poe’s back hit the desk, and it all went up a notch, because Rey pressed her body to his and…

He lost track of the living world, from then on. Poe was completely unaware of anything else, but Rey.

There were moans, coming from both of them, there were hands touching places they never had before, there were teeth biting delicious spots and Poe really was having difficulties believing he wasn’t dreaming.

But he wasn’t dreaming. It was real, she was real, Rey was in his arms, kissing him harshly, moaning his name and starting something.

Kriff, they were starting something, a relationship, a real one, and maybe they were moving too fast. Maybe Poe needed to take a step back, calm down, slow down, take his hand away from under Rey’s shirt.

He didn’t know if he could stop.

Rey wasn’t stopping either.

They probably wouldn’t have stopped for quite some time, if it weren’t for a disrupting binary shrill.

_ Kes is asking if you’re coming home for dinner _ , BB-8 said, making its way inside of the living room.

The droid, bless its innocent soul, didn’t understand what they were doing, because it kept rolling until it hit their legs.

Rey didn’t stop kissing him, at first, but she had to, eventually, because she was laughing too hard. Poe just cursed a lot, kicked his leg at BB-8 a few times.

‘Of course we’re going to have dinner with Kes.’, she finally said, making sure to keep hugging Poe.

He frowned down at her. ‘We are?’

‘There’s no way I’m missing a chance to see him make fun of you.’

‘Rey.’, he narrowed his eyes. ‘We’re together now, he’s going to make fun of you, too.’

Her jaw dropped. ‘We’re together, now?’

Poe hesitated. ‘Yeah, I mean, I thought that’s what-’

She cut him off with a strong kiss. Again, it got pretty desperate, pretty fast. And, once again, it was interrupted by BB-8.

_ This is usually when Master Poe orders me to leave the room. _

‘Buddy, you’re killing me here!’

Poe was pissed, but Rey was laughing again, so it was okay. Everything was okay.

⟩⟨

As they passed the Force tree, Rey stopped. Because they were holding hands, Poe stopped too.

‘What do you see?’, he asked, because it was clear that Rey was looking at something.

She didn’t answer, for a long, awkward while. But then she cursed, loud and filthy, in three different languages. The words were clearly directed at the tree.

Then she immediately calmed down, squeezed his fingers and smiled at Poe.

‘Maybe you should stay away from it. Everybody’s got opinions.’

As Rey rolled her eyes, Poe started laughing. Because he knew perfectly well the kind of opinion Leia had, and he could only imagine the kind of kriff Luke or Ben were saying about him.

Poe didn’t care. Because Rey kissed him sweetly, and urged him on. Dinner was waiting for them, and so was Kes.

**⟩10 years later⟨**

Adar was waiting in front of the Director’s office. He was being quiet and well behaved, even if he really didn’t do anything wrong. This time. He really had no idea why she wanted to see him for now.

He’s been at the Skywalker school for almost seven months.

When Master Rey came to his orphanage and got him, Adar thought she made a mistake. But it took just a short week for him to be able to lift the rocks by using the Force.

Everything escalated really quickly, from then on. He kept messing up and breaking things. The Force was hard to control and he was trying his best, but it didn’t always work out.

So he broke things. A desk, a training dummy, an X-Wing that one time. He always had a conversation with Master Rey afterwards.

She was always nice. Adar liked her a lot, she was kind and didn’t scold him too much.

He still didn’t like being in her office, because that meant he screwed up again, and that meant Master Rey was going to be disappointed in him. And that’s what he really didn’t like.

Still, when she opened the door and asked him inside, Adar straightened his back and went in. She was sitting at her desk, and it was very clear that she was not having a good day.

Her tunic was rumpled and stained, and while her hair was still up in her usual three buns, there were quite a few strands that got away. There were dark circles under her eyes and her desk was more messy than usual.

Still, Master Rey smiled at him.

‘Do you know why I called you, today?’

‘I really have no idea.’, he sighed. ‘I didn’t do anything bad, I promise!’

‘Calm down.’, she chuckled. ‘This isn’t one of  _ those  _ discussions, I assure you.’

‘Oh.’, Adar did calm down, a little, but he was still confused. ‘What sort of discussion is it, then?’

‘I have a proposition for you. You are not obligated to accept it, it is entirely your decision, but I will ask you to think about it very carefully.’

She was looking very serious, so Adar tried to match her. It made her smirk, probably because he was only 13 years old and his face still looked like a baby.

‘You and I are both aware that controlling the Force is difficult for you.’, Master Rey said kindly.

‘I’m trying.’, he frowned.

‘I know you are, I see it at every lesson. The truth, Adar, is that you are strong with the Force. We just haven’t found a way for you to be comfortable with it. Not yet.’

‘It sounds like you have an idea.’

‘Several.’, she smirked, again. ‘Well, I have one idea, and Master Dameron has another idea.’

That got his attention. Adar really liked Master Dameron. He taught them strategy, flying lessons and shop, sometimes he taught history, too, and he was fun. He screamed a lot, and made fun of them sometimes, but he was the coolest teacher at school.

‘I think it’s time for you to go to the Force Tree.’, Master Rey said.

‘But I’m 13!’, Adar yelped. ‘I thought only older students can do that!’

‘It’s not about age.’, she frowned. ‘It’s about who would benefit from it. And I think that right now, an afternoon spent there would do you good. It won’t be easy, it will be mentally taxing and you’ll be very tired, but I really do think it could help.’

‘Then I’ll do it.’

Master Rey threw him a look. ‘I asked you to think about it.’

‘I’ll think about it.’, he nodded. ‘And then I’ll do it.’

She huffed in annoyance, but didn’t comment further.

‘Then there’s Master Dameron’s idea. He thinks you’ll like flying.’

Adar probably showed his true age, then, because his eyes grew wide and he was half-way off the chair before he realized what he was doing.

It made Master Rey laugh. ‘It won’t happen immediately, because you’re still just starting the flying module-’

‘It’s boring!’, he said before he could stop himself. ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve been working in hangers since I could talk. I know everything that Master Dameron is teaching us right now!’

‘Yes, Master Dameron agrees.’, she shook her head. ‘He thinks that the two of you should have some private lessons, in the hanger. You won’t fly anytime soon, but-’

‘Yes!’, Adar wasn’t above begging. ‘Please, Master Rey!’

She laughed. ‘I appreciate your enthusiasm, but please think about it. It’ll be a few hours a week, on top of your normal lessons.’

‘That’s fine, I can handle it.’

She groaned and rolled her eyes, looking nothing like the Director she was. 

‘You have two days to think about it. Really think about it, Adar. About the extra lessons and about the tree. Promise me you’ll think about it?’

He did his best to calm down. ‘I promise, Master Rey. Thank you for the opportunity to-’

‘Don’t mention it.’, she smiled. ‘Now off you go, you have a lesson to get to.’

Adar made it to the door, but then he stopped.

‘Ma’am? I’ll go get Master Dameron before I go to class.’

‘Why?’

He blushed and didn’t manage to meet her eyes. ‘I know you want to talk to him.’

Thankfully, she wasn’t mad. In fact, she relaxed and smiled at him. ‘You’ve known that since the moment you walked in the office, didn’t you?’

‘Even before, I think. I couldn’t sit still in the hallway.’

‘Oh, that’s not me.’ Her hands went to her belly, which has gotten ridiculously large in the past months.

‘Is the baby okay?’, Adar was immediately concerned.

‘Yes, everything’s alright. My first was so calm, he barely kicked all the months I carried him. But this one… He or she might be picking up the slack for their brother.’

Adar giggled. ‘I heard Master Finn say that this one’s definitely taking after Master Dameron.’

Master Rey chuckled at that. ‘Would you be so kind to get Poe for me? He has a free period, he should be in his office.’

‘Of course. Do you need anything else?’

‘For you to understand how strong you are in the Force.’, she became serious again. ‘I’ve had students in and out of this office all day, and you’re the only one who felt anything from me.’

Adar frowned at that.

‘Don’t get arrogant.’, she raised an eyebrow. ‘Don’t let it get to your head, but understand that even if you are having some difficulties, there’s a reason why you’re here.’

‘I know that, Master Rey. I just forget it, sometimes.’

‘Well if you ever need a reminder, I’m here for you. All us teachers can easily remind you.’

She was very pretty when she smiled like that, big and easy. Really, Adar understood why Master Dameron was really tough with everyone else, except for his wife. He turned into an embarrassing teenager when he was with her.

Adar smiled at her, one last time. ‘Thank you, Master Rey. I’ll go get your husband.’

‘Don’t run on the hallway!’

Yeah, he laughed at that. Because that was the only thing she kept saying, that nobody listened to.

Case in point, Adar ran into Master Dameron halfway through to his office, and the older man was running too.

‘Sorry, kiddo, gotta run, something’s up with Rey!’

‘She’s fine, Master Dameron, the baby’s just kicking.’

The older man ran faster, at that, absently throwing a ‘Thank you!’ over his shoulder.

Adar hasn’t been at the school a long time. But it didn’t take long for him to learn the most important things about the Skywalker School of the Force.

One: Every teacher will help you with whatever you need, as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.

Two: Never underestimate a droid.

Three: When Master Rey and Master Dameron forget that they run the school and start being embarrassing, you run the other way.

So Adar ran the other way, he was late to Master Finn’s class. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please stay safe. Take care of yourself.


End file.
